Slowly Kindling My Heart
by The Sayler
Summary: Max and the flock are living at the E-shaped house after an escape from the School, and Fang is starting to feel like more-than-a-friend to Max. But just when Faxness is warming up, a stray handsome, teenage male hiker finds the house. And then there's another challenge: high school. FAX and NIGGY.
1. Chapter 1

**While I loved, loved, LOVED the Maximum Ride series, I always wondered how it would be if the Erasers just… gave up. If there wasn't the weird, creepy Voices. All that stuff. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! There's gonna be a heck of a lot of Fax, and some possible other romances budding up… we'll see. –The Sayler**

**Just FYI, all of the kids are the ages they were in The Angel Experiment (Angel was six, Gazzy was eight, Nudge eleven, and the other three 14).**

**(When it's in first person= Max. Third person= Fang. Or another member of the flock, occasionally.)**

I soared through Death Valley, my heart feeling like it was about to explode. It was all strangely different and incredibly, impossibly wonderful- the flying in open air, the absence of constant pain, and looking at the group of old friends beside me without having bars separating us.

Everyone looked exhilarated. Even _Fang_ was smiling, making the whole skyline seem brighter.

"Where did Jeb say we were heading?" Iggy shouted through the wind. He looked a little lost. I don't think he'd ever flown in an unconfined space while he's blind.

"Somewhere in Colorado…" I recited the coordinates.

Iggy nodded. He asked, not for the first time, "Where do'ya think Jeb is?"

I didn't answer. I honestly didn't know. I turned to Fang helplessly. Nudge and Gazzy were also looking at me expectantly. Angel, already knowing how in-the-dark we were, just kept steadily flying, her wings the color of clouds.

Fang sighed. "We don't know."

Jeb was supposed to meet us at a solitary, abandoned gas station. We'd waited for a full day, but no one had shown up. Angel and Gazzy had been close to tears, begging us to stay a day longer. "He didn't have any in-intention to not meet us here! I could read his thoughts." Angel had begged me.

I'd been disappointed, but firm. "If we stay any longer, we'll run out of food and the School will find us. I'm sorry, Ange."

I was a bit worried, but shoved it to the side. How could I worry about that when I was finally _free_? It was the most amazing feeling- we could do anything, and say anything, and we wouldn't have a stinging knock-out shot, or a whip descend on us.

Fang was staring at me, I could feel it. I struggled not to blush, wondering if the deep friendship we'd developed in the School still applied here. I dared to glance one more time over at him- he had a slight quirk on the side of his mouth, not as happy as the smile he'd worn before, but amused and questioning.

I breathed in and out, synchronizing my lungs with my wings. "Let's just get to the house first. Then we'll decide everything there."

I heard grunts of agreement. We headed towards Colorado.

…

Fang looked at Max again, still trying to figure out why he couldn't look away. Her dark hair streamed out behind her like a cloud, and her face was flushed with excitement. Her eyes reminded him of warmth, and her lean, strong, slender body was suspended by her powerful wings. She was beautiful, like she always was. But her face- it was different. Gone was the tense and depressed resistance. She looked relaxed and hopeful.

He sighed silently. She was his best friend. That wasn't going to change- right?

…

The house was hard to spot. But I say that like a good thing, since we did eventually find it, hidden in the thick forest of mountains. Horrible Erasers and white-coats would just find it that much more difficult to track us down.

I flapped above the mansion-sized house, holding the shiny key up to the sun. Jeb had given it to me right before we'd activated our escape plan, 'just in case'. I had a bad feeling he thought this would happen.

…

"This place rocks!" Gazzy was in a state of glee. "I call the orange room, with the blue rocket ships on the ceiling!"

Iggy said quickly, "Then I get the smaller room with the little desktop computer in it."

"Darn," Nudge said, her dark face turning into a pout. "I wanted the computer!" Then she brightened. "Wait- the lavender room had a pink laptop on the cute little desk! And my own bathroom! Dibs! Fang, you can have the midnight blue room- it's attached with a door through Iggy's and Gazzy's room on the second floor. Angel gets the room Jeb put all those stuffed animals in, of course, and Max gets the big green room."

The kids had toured the house with lightning speed.

I clapped my hand with my awesome leader mojo. "Okay, you guys. Powwow."

We all decided to use the spacious living room as a meeting area. "All right," I began briskly. "I bet Jeb will show up eventually. But for now we're going to hang out here. I checked the cellar- there's enough food in there to last us _years_. And we've got Wi-Fi. And there are miles of mountains and wilderness isolating us. So what do you say?"

The flock cheered.

We all scrambled into the kitchen. I had thoughtfully set out the foods that had looked the most delicious and put them on the table.

Iggy walked over to the counter, while the rest of us stood there helplessly, having no idea how to cook. The blind kid waved us away. "I got this. You all sit at the table." I looked at him, dumbfounded, as he began to throw together cans of food and feel through the cabinets for a pot or pan.

We all fell upon the food and water like hyenas, wolfing everything down, even the leafy greens. There were sardines, pasta, beans, salad, scrambled eggs, bacon, Snickers bars, and ice cream. I moaned as I finished off my third helping of eggs.

"Tastes… so… _good_." The Gasman said in between mouthfuls.

Angel stood up after we were all done stuffing our faces. "I'm tired, Max." _Can you tuck me in?_

"Yeah, guys. Let's get some sleep." I walked everyone up to the second floor, holding Angel's hand. Iggy and Gazzy were talking sleepily about all of the test explosions they could try out this far away from other people. "… And the house, of course," Iggy added hastily, after catching a glimpse of my face.

The boys walked into their side of the second floor, and us girls into ours. I picked up a couple of stuffed animals and hauled them onto Angel's bed. She carefully tucked each of them in under the covers. _Max. This place is safe. Can we stay? For a long time?_

I smiled. "We're going to stay here for as long as we can, Ange."

Nudge was already asleep, so I just turned off the light and went into my room. It was the biggest, with green walls and white carpeting. I looked in the closet- it was full of clothes, ranging from skirts and dresses to T-shirts and jeans. There was a black tank top and pajama pants, so I put them on and threw myself into bed.

"Night, Max."

I nearly jumped out of my skin. But it was only Fang, saying the thing we said to each other each night at the School.

"G'night Fang."

He stood, framing the doorway, looking at me. I got out of bed and went over to him before he walked away. It felt so bizarre to see him so relaxed. His torso was hard, I thought in surprise. And he had gotten so tall…

I reached out for him, putting my arms around his chest and over his shoulder, and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but he put his tan, strong arms around my waist. It lasted for a couple of seconds, with us just listening to each other's breathing. I pulled away. "We should stay here," I said.

He didn't look so impassive anymore. "Yes."

And then he turned and walked into his room.

It was already feeling natural- living here, carefree, and the happiest I've ever been in my abused life. But I would _never_ take it for granted.

Never.

**I PROMISE THERE WILL BE FAX! But I want to keep it a bit slow. Trust me, it'll work. Please review! You have no idea- it only takes you a couple of seconds to type out what you HONESTLY think, and us authors(Yes, I'm talking to all of the authors of fanfiction out there reading this! You guys know!) find it amazing. Tell me what you HONESTLY think! I don't care if it's praise or harsh criticism (but please don't **_**just**_** shout out that you hate it- tell me **_**why**_**, too.), just tell me! **

**And I don't want to be those people that say they're not going to post the next chapter until I get a certain number of reviews, but I'm going to be. Sorry. **

**So I'll put the bar at… **_**15 reviews**_**! PLEASE! I'm very stubborn. Way too stubborn than I should be. SO REVIEW! Pretty please? I already have the second chapter typed up, so now it's all up to you! **

**-The Sayler**


	2. Chapter 2

**I GOT 7 REVIEWS! I know I said that I wouldn't publish this until I got 15, but I lied. Sorry. Plus I REALLY wanted to see how you guys like this chapter. Thank you so much! Just keep the reviews coming! Special thanks to…**

**The Sea Goddess**

**Emilie12**

**Fanfiction to the Max**

**theRainbowGuitarist**

…**for reviewing first.**

**I love you all! **

I woke up feeling like I was lying on a cloud. _I must be dreaming_, I thought in amazement. I wasn't in my cramped cage, or a dark, damp cave. A large pillow rested under my head, and the soft mattress practically let me _sink_ under the covers.

The miracles didn't stop even after I remembered I had escaped. _Escaped!_ I would never get used to that feeling of relief. The scent of sausages and hash browns drifted into my nose, and suddenly I felt wide-awake.

I was the only one that had slept in. Surprisingly, all of the younger kids were already up and awake, probably drawn to the tantalizing smells, like me. Nudge ran up the stairs, looking thrilled, and started chattering at full speed, not even stopping at full sentences, as soon as she saw me.

"Max! Oh my gosh, oh, my gosh! Just look at what's in my closet! Jeb, or whoever set up this house, put in the cutest skirts and tank tops! Speaking of which, I love yours you look hot in black tops- try to wear them more often. There's also some makeup we should give each other makeovers! And yes, I know, you're not going to want to, but you're too pretty for all of the ratty T-shirts that are probably in your closet! I mean, you've got to let me had _some_ fun with your hair, at _least_. C'mon, let's go to breakfast." She wasn't even breathing hard. That girl has good stamina.

…

"Iggy?"

He looked up from the frying pan. "Yeah?"

"I now promote you to the official cook of the flock," I said, and then shoved another forkful of sausage in my mouth.

He mock-saluted.

"What should we do now?" Angel asked.

I smiled. "Let's fly."

…

Fang's face was deadpan, like always, but his head spun. Max had been so close to him last night… he had felt her capable arms around him, and the scent of pine trees and mint.

He flew upwards, like a dark shadow, and landed on the top of a mountain. It was snowy there, but he wasn't so cold, since his body had been enhanced to be comfortable high in the air.

He heard Max's lithe body land a few feet behind him, but he didn't turn around.

…

Fang's dark figure contrasted with the stark snow impressively. His black hair looked tousled from the chilly wind, and for some reason I longed to touch it- no. I shook my head mentally.

"What's up?" I asked, walking over to stand beside him.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he said, surprising me, his dark eyes looking broodingly out at the rugged landscape.

"Yeah." I smiled slightly, and turned my head to look at him. Fang had changed a lot over the past two years at the School, growing taller and forcing the School to give him and Iggy more of the pitiful disgusting slop of calories they served as food. His face had become angular, and shadows danced across his strong jaw.

"Hey," Fang pointed to a distant cliff top. "Let's race."

"But I told the others to stay near to the house-" I started to say, but Fang had already took off, jumping from the damp snow.

"Oh, I'm going to get you later…" I muttered, and then sprang into the air, pushing my wings to their very limit, feeling the wind rush past my ears, roaring.

He beat me by a second, his sneakers landing nimbly on the ground when I was still speeding through the air. I didn't stop, tackling him into the snow.

"False start," I growled playfully.

He just scoffed, in a way only he can, maintaining his stoic expression while also good-naturedly scorning me.

I suddenly realized how close we were to each other- our faces only inches apart. He seemed to notice that too, his expression freezing in place, and I felt his heartbeat actually start to quicken.

I also saw that I was practically straddling him.

The snow crunched softly as I hastily tried to get off of him, but Fang just sat up with me on his lap. I looked into his midnight eyes- so deep and dark and sad, but they had oddly hopeful glint. His mouth… it was so close to my face… wait.

Why would I want to get in any way physical- other than say, sparring- with my best friend?

But the feeling stayed. My breathing was shallow, and I couldn't stop looking at him. Fang, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease, making the silence relaxing as he looked out calmly towards the rocky horizon.

I don't know how long we stayed there, with my head on his shoulder, cuddled close for warmth. It was autumn, and up in the mountains it got cold. But eventually Fang nudged me. "The flock is probably wondering where we are."

I nodded in agreement, wishing the moment would never end. We were close in proximity, and I sensed that we were playing with the fine line between friendship and… something else. But I was just so comfortable…

Fang helped me up, and we flew slowly back together, never more than a few feet away from each other.

The flock was playing Monopoly when we got back, a board game they'd found in a cupboard. I felt a pang of sadness- Jeb had put so much effort into making this a lovely home. But there was nothing we could do about it now. He hadn't shown up.

Angel was the only one that didn't look up when we walked into the living room to join the game. She sent a thought to me: _I told them you were coming back soon._

_Thanks,_ I thought back gratefully.

…

Fang looked across the room to Max. Her dark tank top showed off her wiry muscles, and she laughed at Gazzy cheerfully. He felt confused, an emotion he wasn't used to feeling. At the School the only things he'd thought of was escape, helping Max to cheer the flock up, and more escape.

But here… he had too much time on his hands. He felt things he never thought he could feel…

…

I stepped into the warm shower, moaning as the steaming water washed away all of the dirt and sweat off of my body. I scrubbed my face and washed my hair, then just stood there, feeling the massaging pound of water land on my head and back.

There was another tight top in the first drawer of my closet, and though I wanted to search through the shelves for a loose T-shirt, I was too tired. So I threw it on with an additional pair of pajama pants.

I had said good night to all of the members of the flock already, except for Fang. So I padded over to his room, ignoring the loud thudding in my heart.

The door was ajar, and I softly pushed it open.

"Oh! Sorry," I apologized. Fang was only in his boxers, although they were just black. His bare torso revealed washboard abs, and his hair stuck up in places where it was still wet from his shower. He smiled slightly, something I noted he'd done much more of here. It was something we _all_ did more of.

I hoped my expression wasn't too revealing, as I was silently appreciating his chest. "Just wanted to say good night. I, uh, already said it to…" I gestured vaguely behind me. "The rest of the flock."

"Oh," he said. "Yeah, well. See you in the morning."

This time _he_ caught me by surprise, tenderly putting his arms around my waist and pulling me towards him. My head turned sideways so my cheek was pressed against Fang's chest. His bare skin was warm and smooth. I inhaled his clean, Fang-like scent… something woodsy, maybe?

But I backed away after a couple of seconds, feeling muddled. Fang looked infuriatingly indifferent again.

I went slowly back into my room. I didn't know much about relationships. The hugging was something friends did… right? But still… it hadn't felt brotherly-like in the least. There was often a thin line between friendship and… a romantic relationship, and I sensed that we were frolicking with it.

But was there anything there at all in the first place between us? Besides friendship?

**Please prove me wrong in thinking that second chapters are never reviewed to as much by reviewing just as much as the first! Please! I'm not going to force you, but it **_**does**_** encourage me to write faster. ****A **_**lot**_** faster.**

**Niggy will come. That's going to be a fun one to write :D**

**-The Sayler**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all of the reviews! It really heartened me to write, despite school, homework, and a non-fanfiction story I'm working on. **

**Yes, I know, the 'teenage, male hiker'. He will come, because I want to stir up Fax. But that's for later. **

…**or is it? +dramatic music plays+**

**Yeah, it is for later.**

**Don't forget to review at the end! The more YOU REVIEW, the more I WRITE. **

We were soaring above the mountains again, this time wearing coats. It was getting colder in Colorado, and I had ordered everyone to bundle up. Fang, much to my annoyance, had refused to wear the puffy coat, instead opting to put on a light black fleece.

That had triggered Nudge to complain about how 'the coat made her look chunky'- even though she was supermodel-thin and we were miles away from anyone else that would care how she looked- so she put on a cute, purple jacket from her "Closet of Wonders" with that weird fluffy stuff around the edge of the hood. Iggy was wearing a thick suede jacket, and Gazzy and Angel hadn't complained, staying with their brightly colored thick coats.

I shivered slightly in my jacket as I flew higher into the clouds. "Hey Angel!" I called, and then felt stupid. She already knew what I was going to ask. The small, fluffy-haired girl turned in midair.

"That's a good question, Max," she said. Four other pairs of eyes turned towards me.

I raised my eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I actually _do_ think there might be a town somewhere near here…" Her tiny face screwed up in concentration.

"A town?" asked Fang, raising an eyebrow curiously.

I nodded slightly. "Yeah. I want to know… well, if there _is _one nearby, then… we'd know just _how_ near we are to civilization… and we could pick up more of the foods we like with the money Jeb left us…"

Gazzy nodded. "And more supplies for bombs!"

"Sure…" I said doubtfully.

"Angel?" Iggy asked her curiously.

"I'm not… sure. I feel something… Can Nudge check on her laptop?" Angel asked.

…

Nudge squinted at the screen, waiting for Google Earth to respond. She typed an equation in, searching for the E house. All she could see for miles were trees, mountainous rocks, and underbrush. She sighed in relief. She frowned, scoping the nearby area for a cited town, and typed in another string of numbers.

There it was- easily found. A medium-sized settlement. She clicked the print button.

"Hey Nudge?" she heard her name being called softly.

"'Sup? I'm in here," she called.

Iggy walked slowly into her room, feeling his hand along the wall. "What is it?" she asked, her dark face looking slightly flushed as she looked at his tall, pale figure in her room.

"Well…" he turned his face towards her. "Gazzy and I need-"

"No." She turned back to the screen.

"What?" he looked indignant. "Why not?"

"No explosions."

"But they're awesome!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Hmm…" she looked back at him teasingly, and then remembered he couldn't see her. "No."

"But Angel's too young for mayhem and destruction, and Max and Fang are off being... Max and Fang."

"Why do you need _me_?"

"Truthfully, we need a third person for our experiments. Like backup. Plus, since you're good with computers, it would be really handy."

Nudge stared. ""You guys are being _safe_?"

"No! Of course not! But we'd really appreciate it if you helped out."

"No," she repeated again.

"Well… I didn't think it would come to this, but…" He smiled.

He walked closer, practically breathing on her.

She almost closed her eyes, leaning in, and waiting. But Iggy stayed where he was.

"We've found your stash of fashion magazines."

"WHAT?"

He recoiled, laughing. "You wouldn't want Max to find out about your prescriptions… would you?"

"You're blackmailing me!" She scowled.

"No, just trying to keep the flock a secret… you know Max would flip if she found out people knew where we lived." He looked serious, with a hint of merriment in his sightless eyes.

"Oh, and you wouldn't care about my… magazines if I was an _explosions_ assistant, helping with your mischief?" Nudge asked sarcastically.

"Not in the least."

She sighed in defeat. Iggy, upon hearing her, grinned. "Another member of the troublemakers club!"

"Sure, sure."

He led her to the balcony, and they both jumped off, flying to a clearing a couple of miles away, where she could see Gazzy hunched over… something with colorful wires. He was wearing safety goggles, with his blond hair spiked up. When they landed, Gazzy looked up and cackled. "What have we here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

Iggy motioned her over to a complicating-looking sequence. "We need you to set it like this…" his fingers trailed over several buttons.

Nudge nodded, memorizing codes and analyzing closely. "Got it. Let's blow up some boulders."

"Now _that's_ what I like to hear!" Iggy appraised.

…

I stood up from my room, walking slowly downstairs in my warm pajama pants and a large t-shirt. The kitchen was chilly, and I reached for the panel to turn up the heat. Grabbing a packet of cocoa and a large mug, I filled the cup with hot water and poured the powder in, stirring and examining the nearby cupboards for marshmallows.

The living room was all cozied up for the winter. There were red curtains over the wall of glass, and the small fireplace was set up with fresh wood. I was nervous about lighting it, knowing the smoke would give out a signal, but the three younger kids were insistent about it. "We _have_ to put up stockings for Christmas over a warm comfy fire!" Nudge begged me.

"Maybe…" I'd said reluctantly.

I sat down at the couch, sipping the chocolaty drug and warming up my nose, which was still red from the wind outside that was picking up. I heard Fang walk downstairs quietly, trying not to wake Angel from the nap she had protested that she didn't need.

"Where's the rest of the flock?" he asked in a whisper.

I stood up quickly. "Crap. They're making bombs in the clearing. They must not have known about the storm."

"Let's go."

We grabbed our coats and flew outside, bracing ourselves against the freezing wind and snow. I squinted through the flurry of white and gray, and saw Fang doing the same. But we had only fought the wind a couple hundred feet before we saw three silhouettes coming through the blizzard. Nudge rammed into me, flung forward suddenly as her wings caught a gust, pushing me onto Fang.

Luckily, we were so close to the house that it was by pure luck we crash-landed onto the porch. I just lay there, gasping hoarsely as the snow softly came to rest on my frozen coat. Nudge groaned next to me, shifting onto her stomach. Fang, having caught himself a little before colliding, stood up and yelled to Gazzy and Iggy, straining to direct them towards the house. The two idiots finally found their way to the window of the kitchen, sliding down painfully from the top of the pane.

The wind was almost completely gone from my lungs, but I knew it would come back soon. Crouching over Nudge, checking her over for major injuries, I gradually got my breath back. I straightened to see that the boys had already walked into the house.

"Don't you _dare_ do something stupid like that again!" I yelled, pacing in front of the three. They looked ashamed, and once again Iggy tried to speak.

"Max, but we didn't know about the stor-"

"I don't _care_! It's _wintertime_! It _snows_!"

"But we just wanted-"

"No! You check with me first!"

"You never said that before," Nudge said quietly.

I felt bad. I was acting unfairly. "I know. But I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Fang laid his hand on my shoulder. "Maybe we should just ask them to check the weather channel before going far from the house."

"Yeah," I said, grateful for the solution.

I frowned. "Why were _you_ helping them with… bombs… anyways, Nudge?"

She blushed. "It's actually really fun. Satisfying."

"Okay…" I looked at her suspiciously.

"Yeah!" The Gasman beamed at her. "She's super smart, and she even added a touch of this extra leftover liquid to make our explosion have an extra _bang_ to it!"

She smiled. "It's pretty fun, destroying stuff."

"So long as we don't mess up her makeup and clothes with the ashes and dirt," Gazzy added.

The three of them left, Nudge and Iggy chatting enthusiastically. Fang whispered in my ear, "Love can make people do crazy things, you know."

I whirled around. "What do you mean?" I said, confused.

"Nudge. With Iggy." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I shook my head. "Iggy? No way. They're like, three years apart."

"Not so much time. Think of it like twenty-one and twenty-four."

I highly disbelieved that it would ever happen. Iggy thought of Nudge as his girly, cute little sister. Romance was the farthest thing from his mind.

I pulled off my coat, plopping myself down on the sofa. Fang sat next to me, not even moving the cushions. I looked at him sideways. He was sprawled across the couch, his feet on the coffee table.

I was just so exhausted… I couldn't help it. My feet curled in towards my chest, and my head fell on Fang's shoulder. I felt his bicep tighten, but then he relaxed, putting his arm around my head. I smiled a tiny bit into his chest, and then let myself drift to sleep, perfectly at ease.

**I want to know how you think of it! Just as an FYI, this is takes place at the same time as the Angel experiment. Same characters and setting. You know. Lately I've been updating pretty quickly, but I don't want you to start to _always_ expect it. I'll do my best, though.**

**Please review! Pleeeease?**

**-The Sayler**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow! So many reviews! Everyone reading this far is awesome! **

I woke up to a blinding light streaming in my face, and sat up, blinking. The pale sunlight filtered in through the window, illuminating the couch I was sitting on. My back rested against a hard… Fang. I twisted around quickly, but as smoothly as I could. He was asleep, his face looking no different than it was when he was awake, except that his eyes were closed.

I dared to look a bit closer, seeing that maybe he looked a bit less tense and guarded, though his jaw wasn't slack in the least. He swallowed and his mouth opened, murmuring something softly. It was unintelligible, and his eyebrows furrowed unconsciously. I leaned closer, trying to hear him. Fang shifted, reaching out his arm for where my shoulders had been seconds before, and I gently pressed my hand onto his chest.

"Are we interrupting something?"

I practically leapt away from him, almost falling onto the floor. Fang jolted up, his eyelids snapping open to reveal his midnight orbs. If it was possible for Fang to look confused, he looked it.

Nudge opened her mouth to say something else, but Iggy urgently pulled on her arm. "What are they doing?" he whispered, unaware that we could hear him.

I almost burned Nudge on the spot with the glares I was sending to her, but she just smiled. "Tell you later." He groaned.

"Anyways, Max, we were wondering if we could make some cinnamon rolls today for breakfast."

"Sure," I muttered, still feeling a little bit sleepy. I deliberated whether or not to snooze on the couch for a little but longer. Sleep won over food for once.

"Move over," I said.

"I'm good," Fang mumbled, his eyes drifting to a close. I collapsed next to him, and the warmth radiating off of his skin was so comfortable. His shoulder was hard, and it hurt my neck to lean on him. I could feel Fang breathing slowly and evenly, sleeping lightly. I ended up hugging his torso like a giant teddy bear, giving in to the easy sleep.

…

Angel was feeling in a curious mood today. So many different people were thinking so many different things.

Nudge was falling for Iggy, hard. She could hear her forcing the thoughts out of her head, but things like, _Awww he's so adorable when he laughs_ and _Stupid age difference_ kept cropping up as she joked with the clueless blind kid in the kitchen.

Iggy, on the other hand, seemed to be focusing on everything but Nudge, like _Maybe we can somehow blow up… the cinnamon rolls smell so… Angel, I know you're prying again…_

Gazzy's mind was something she didn't really care about infiltrating, seeing as he was an 8-year-old boy with no drama or interest in stuffed toys.

She tried to see what Fang was thinking of, or dreaming of would be more accurate. He was always so quiet, but she, as a mind-reader, knew of the emotions battling inside.

_She was closer now, waiting. It was so unreal, like they were floating in water. Her warm body pressed against him, sparking something deep within his chest. But then the girl pulled away, ice in her normally warm eyes. She ran away, laughing at him, taunting him for daring to open up. He tried running after her-_

She was interjected by the arrival of cinnamon rolls. Gazzy, Iggy, and Nudge grabbed plates and sat down at the big table. Max pulled up a chair slowly, while Fang slept silently on the couch.

…

"Wake up, sleepy-head."

Fang awoke suddenly for the second time that morning. This time it was because the most delicious aroma was drifting up his nose…

"Breeeeakfaaaaaast," Max said coaxingly.

"Gimme da food," Fang mumbled, reaching out his arms for the plate.

Max grinned as he wolfed down the cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Fang smiled slightly back, appreciating the curve of her lips and the small ship on her tooth from a punch of an Eraser. Her sun streaked-brown hair looked tousled in a loose braid.

He stopped smiling swiftly, remembering to stay emotionless just in time.

…

I rubbed my eyes and sat down on my desk. There was a book on top of a small stack, and I picked it up. The words were gibberish, with only a few stood out, like _the_ and _for_. I recognized some letters, but how was I supposed to know what sounds they made? I only knew talking. Talking is how _I_ communicate.

Fang chose that exact moment to walk into my room. I was still staring at the title incomprehensively.

He didn't comment, but leaned past me to waken the computer. He clicked on the browser, and typed in s-t-a-r-f-a-l-l-.c-o-m. It was a preschooler's site, for learning how to read. I'd seen Angel whizzing through it in two days, and now she was already reading _Anne of Green Gables_. Page 154 the last time I checked. Gazzy had taken one look at the site, where it showed a singing turkey, and had run out of the room.

I groaned loudly. Fang didn't even look at me. He clicked on Learn To Read.

"What are you doing?" I whined.

He looked at me expressionlessly. "We need to learn how to read."

"Why?" I asked. "We could always just watch videos and TV and stuff…"

He was firm. "No. Start. Now."

"Only if you do it with me," I said.

Fang sighed. "I've already tried it."

I tried not to double over laughing. "You… tried to do _Starfall_?"

"It's a good site!" he defended himself.

"Let's do it," I said reluctantly.

…

"NO!" I screamed.

Fang sighed patiently. "It's not that bad, just a song."

"But it's so _catchy_."

_Listen to the short-a sound: Ah, ah, ah-ah, ah. The short-a makes this kind of sound: Ah, ah, ah-ah, ah._

"Fine, we don't have to listen to it, but let's at least do the activities."

"But the site thinks I'm a _five-year old_!" I screeched.

"Please?" He asked me. Holy crap, he was hot when he really wanted something. "I really want us to learn this."

"Okay, but no more creepy songs."

"Deal."

…

Nudge looked at herself in the mirror, examining her flawless skin. She sighed; all of the anti-acne bottles had definitely worked. But…

What was the point?

Iggy couldn't see her. He was blind. _She_ could only see _him_.

…

Nudge walked into my room slowly. I was just finished changing into my pajamas, and was staring at my laptop ruefully.

"Max?"

"Huh?"

Nudge looked at the floor sadly, and then back at me, her eyes deep and sad.

"How do I… what does Iggy… well, he can't… see me… but I wish he…" she was struggling for words.

I sat down on my bed, motioning for her to come over. Time to practice with the mom stuff.

"Nudge. I know you like to look pretty. You're beautiful." I was pretty sure this was going to be another one of those esteem-boosting talks.

"Thanks," she sniffled. "But it's the only thing I know how to do. People see me on the outside. But Iggy… he can't. So what's the point?"

This was getting hard. Nudge tried to look good to impress people, and she wanted to impress Iggy. Iggy couldn't see her.

"Iggy sees your personality, honey," I said as softly as I could.

"But what if that's not good enough for him?"

I frowned. "What do you even want from the poor boy?"

She blushed and looked away. I gaped at her.

"Nudge! You're only 11!"

"It's only three years! And I'm tall. You even _said_ I was mature for my age."

"Not _that_ mature," I said.

"Anyways… my personality. He… he's so… I don't know."

"Iggy loves you, just like we all do and always will. Because you're Nudge," I said. Pretty deep, for me.

"But I don't _want_ Iggy to love me like you all do!" Nudge wailed.

"How 'bout we talk about this in the morning," I yawned. This short, disturbing conversation was tiring me.

"Fine. G'night, Max."

"Yup."

**Please review! I literally just finished typing this, so I might take a week or two to post the next chapter, depending on the number of reviews I get. The more I get, the more I write. I'm sorry for the shortness as well. And I swear there'll be more Fax! I just want their relationship to be natural…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, all! Needless to say, I'm SIKED about the review number. Just keep up the pace! **

**A couple of people have asked me when this takes place, and I know I might not have made it super clear. It's before **_**The Angel Experiment**_**, but they've escaped the school at the ages they were in the first book, with the help of the mysteriously absent Jeb. So they were in the School for a longer time. **

**Oh, my God! I wrote the FAX kiss- that I promise, WILL COME in the story- last night, just for fun. I got tingles :D **

We were flying. It was the middle of winter, and I had scarves, gloves, and hats forced on all of the flock. "How far, Nudge?" I shouted over the wind.

"Maybe… ten more kilometers?" she said, looking at the folded piece of paper. I groaned- my wings had icicles on them this high up.

Fang was staring at me again. I could feel it, a heat creeping up my cheeks, warming my face. I wondered in the part of my brain that wasn't screaming about Fang's hair how finding the town would benefit us.

I wanted mostly to check out the nearest people living around us, to scout out how safe it was. Angel wanted to see if there was a school, for some reason. Iggy and Gazzy wanted bomb supplies. Nudge wanted to window shop.

Fang wanted more books. He had learned how to read much faster than me, much to my frustration and dismay.

I soared downwards once we had gotten close enough, effectively freezing my nose into a red tomato. I could see the tiny village, with large-ish houses and cell phone towers. We landed half a kilometer away, and walked from there. I led everyone, with Fang by my side. He had been normally quiet.

"Alright, people, low profile," I dictated. "Adults will wonder why we're not in school, so just try to sneak arou-"

"Actually, Max, apparently school's off for the winter holidays," Angel interrupted. "So we can do whatever."

I frowned. "Fine. Do whatever."

…

So many happy lights and people walking around licking sticks of striped candy. I couldn't help but smile. There was a happy feeling in the air, and I was attracted to it. Christmas was a great feeling.

I bent down to tie my old sneakers underneath the patio of a small toy store. I looked at the teenage girls with long, impossibly straight hair giggle and tease boys by the square. Parents rushed by hurriedly with their younger children, shopping in the tiny stores.

The whole place was small, but there was a highway connecting it with other towns, which were some miles away.

"Max? You're standing in a precarious spot." I heard Fang's voice from directly above me.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

I stood up from my kneeling position. "Wha…?" I began, and then stopped as one of the boys sauntered towards me.

"You look new," he greeted. "From around here?" His hazel eyes looked friendly and teasing. A girl with thick, dark red hair from the square shot me a nasty look.

"No," I said quickly. "Just passing through."

"Oh," he said, grinning. "Then you won't judge me for this, will you?"

_What was he talking about? _

He leaned over me as if he were going to whisper in my ear. Instead, his mouth pressed onto mine quickly and firmly, sealing mine shut. Normally I would have punched his lights out, but this was the first time anyone had kissed me on the lips.

He backed away from me as I stood there in shock. "Mistletoe," he pointed above me.

I lifted my head. A little plant hung from the roof of the patio.

"Does that mean you have to kiss whoever's under it?" I asked awkwardly.

"Only if you want to," he said.

"…Um, okay."

"I'm Sam," he held out his hand.

We shook hands, and then he left around a corner. I spun around, only to see Fang. He looked completely expressionless, if not a bit dazed.

"I warned you," he said.

"How did you know about the mistletoe?" I asked curiously.

"Nudge put it up over the kitchen doorway." He blinked several times at me, leaning eyebrows furrowed.

I saw Iggy and Gazzy in a mechanic's shop, and motioned them over. Angel and Nudge had appeared to our left.

"This town is so cute!" exclaimed Nudge. "Angel and I were window shopping, you know, since we wanted to see what kind of things there was to buy people for Christmas, as it's only a week or two away, and I want to wrap things up to put under the Christmas tree I'm going to persuade you to get, and I saw the softest purple sweater-"

"Please stop before you end up with two paragraph's worth of a run-on sentence, Nudge," I said disparagingly.

…

I looked over at Fang from the dining room. "What's wrong?" He looked furious. Scarily furious.

"Nothing," he replied stiffly.

"You've been acting weird all day, Fang," I said. "The total number of words you've said to me is…" I thought. "Well, actually, there was only that time after and before the mistletoe weirdness." I tried to remain expressionless, but I felt a tiny, warm glow at the thought of the kiss. It was my first. Even though I didn't know the guy, it still felt special. Christmas-y.

"So?"

"So, nothing!" I said in exasperation.

"What do people normally get each other for Christmas?" he asked suddenly, after at least ten seconds of me broodingly stare at the couch in our living room.

I was startled. "No clue. I've been kinda worried," I admitted.

"Is it something small? Personal?" he said, looking slightly anxious.

"Well, I think the whole idea's silly," I informed him. "Why get someone some object or toy?"

He frowned. "To remember them by, I guess."

"But I'll always have you guys. I'll never need to remember," I said seriously.

"I hope so," Fang said.

I looked at the ground for a bit. "Yeah," I finally said.

…

Fang watched as Max stood on the step-ladder, pulling down the mistletoe from the doorway of the kitchen.

She didn't notice him watching her from the stairway, his eyes boring into her back.

...

"Hey guys? Guess what my favorite word is?" Gazzy bounded down the stairs the next morning, grinning madly.

"Boom?" Iggy asked.

The Gasman shook his head. "No, but close."

"Explosions?" Nudge inquired from the couch next to Angel.

"Yup!" he exclaimed. "How'd you guess?"

Nudge rolled her eyes. "What's your favorite word, Angel?" she asked, hugging the little girl.

"Family," Angel said contently.

"Mine's love," said Nudge, smiling faintly.

"Vision," Iggy said quietly. There was a moment of silence.

"Hero," I said off-handedly. "My favorite word is hero," I repeated.

No one asked why. There were times where all of the flock understood that some things didn't need to be explained.

**CHRISTMAS IS THE NEXT CHAPTER! I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS YOU READ AND RESPOND TO THE UNDERLINED MESAGE:**

**I NEED YOUR HELP. I have writer's block for what Fang should get Max. And vice versa. Same with Niggy. Help me? Please? Review and tell me!**

**Well, its winter break, and I'm goin' to Turkey for a week! I'll try to type some stuff up there. Warning: FAX IS AHEAD. BEEP BEEP BEEP. **

**REIVEW TO MAKE AUTHOR TYPE FASTER. Press the little blue button, readers…just press. +tries to use Angel's mind control+**

**Don't forget to tell me about what they should get each other! Or even something vague, like "jewelry" will do.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Merry Christmas, everyone! Or happy holidays! Hope you guys like this one, I thought really hard for the presents. Review at the end!**

_I stared at the thin, strong metal bars. My whole lower body was riddled with cramps from being in the wrong position for so long, my eyes hurt from the bright light, and my forearm screamed in agony from the shots I had been given earlier that day. _

"_Which one should we test for sense of smell?" A woman asked, as though we weren't even there. I'd already undergone that one. They'd shoved a sample of a certain gas under our nose, and had tested how long it had taken for us to pass out in pain. _"Ten seconds- impressive. They're extremely sensitive. A normal human would have taken seconds longer, and would have taken days to heal from the wounds in their sinuses."

_The head white-coat shook his head. "No, today we're testing for speed. I'm worried they're not as fast as we had hoped. Let's check flying and running."_

_I hid in the back of the cage in fear, too weak to try to be brave. I managed to hiss at the gloved hands reaching for my body, but they roughly picked me up as though I weighed nothing. _

_I was brought to the testing room, a different one from when they had tortured our senses. Blank white walls surrounded me, giving me only one route, sloping into a circle. _

_Two people were next to me. Iggy and Fang. Iggy was shaking with nerves, his newly blind eyes petrified with fear. His senses had been upped the most, so the testing had taken a terrible toll on him. Fang was silent, but his biceps and lower jaw was corded with worry. _

_He looked over at me, and nodded. Our faces set in masks of indifference together. I grabbed Iggy's hand, showing him the direction we'd have to run in. He nodded, his heartbeat still spiking. _

"_How far?" I whispered to Fang. _

_He shook his head. "I'm guessing until we collapse," he said quietly, speaking for the first time in days._

"_Crap," I whispered._

_A blasting alarm sounded, and a white-hot laser shot us in the back, willing us to run faster… wait. It wasn't white hot. In fact, it was…_

"Max, wake up! Wake up wake up wake _up!_" Nudge poked me in the back repeatedly, bouncing to the rhythm of her words.

"Gah!" I sat up quickly. What a flashback dream to have on Christmas Eve! Normally it was supposed to be… sugar plums? Gingerbread? Right.

"Come ON! It's CHRISTMAS! We've got to go downstairs! PRESENTS! STOCKINGS! Ribbons. FLAMETHROWERS!" If I didn't know better, I'd think Nudge was high on something sugary. But this was just her when she really wanted to say a lot, but couldn't think of what to say because excitement was overloading her brain.

I looked at her groggily. "Flamethrowers?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.

Fang was being dragged out of bed, still half-asleep, by Angel and Gazzy, each of them lugging him by the legs. I looked at the clock. 4:00 AM.

"Guys?" I said politely. "You do realize it's FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!"

"But… it's _Christmas_," Gazzy replied pleadingly.

"Fine. But just for today, 'cause us teenagers need our sleep." I smothered a smile at seeing Fang lurch awake, looking hilariously confused at seeing himself on the floor, pulled across the hallway by a 6 and 8-year-old.

"Hey!" said Nudge defensively. "I count as a teenager, too!"

"Mmm-hmm," I said soothingly.

Iggy was already downstairs in the kitchen, and since he was blind I couldn't exactly scold him for peeking in the living room, where the Christmas tree was. Besides, he was making waffles. _Waffles_. And stirring something in a large pot… "What's in there, Ig?" I asked.

He grinned. "I'll tell you, but you can't eat it yet."

"Is it cookie dough?" Gazzy asked.

He continued to grin. "Nope. Melted chocolate and candy cane crumbs melted together."

"GIVE ME SOME NOW!" Gazzy yelled. I raced over to the pot, but Fang beat me to the counter, already snatching the spoon away from Iggy.

"Guys… Christmas," Nudge reminded the boys and me, and we reluctantly turned away from the homemade peppermint bark.

Even I, the "older, more mature" one, was almost bouncing in excitement as I looked at the tree. It was the same as last night, when we'd each snuck in at different times to lay down our presents. Silver and red and green wrapping, some extremely messy and others neatly done, lay at underneath the plain green tree we'd spent hours lugging into the house.

"Oooh, quick! Who's going to go first?" Nudge squealed.

"How about we each find a present for us, and open them one by one," I suggested. I'd seen stuff like that on the TV.

We each sifted through the boxes and bags, until each of us sat on a couch or chair with something on our laps. I saw Nudge orientated against a small loveseat next to Iggy, who was unconsciously leaning towards her. I was resting into Fang.

"Okay, Ange, you go first," I said briskly.

She smiled at me, already knowing what I had gotten her, but still ripping it open excitedly. "Max! These are beautiful!" I had noticed Angel's talent a few weeks ago, eyeing her pencil sketches of people and flowers. At 6 she was already a blooming artist, so I had bought her an expensive paint set and sketchpad. I'd added a tiny Christmas ornament of a real angel, with wings and a halo, smiling lovingly, with the package. The little girl ran over to hug me tightly.

"My turn next!" yelled Gazzy, tearing Fang's neat wrapping to pieces. "Whoa! Dude! Awesome!" I craned my neck to look. A little remote-controlled helicopter lay in a plastic box. Fang's expression was softer as he watched Gazzy's delight at something that wasn't obviously explosive.

Nudge neatly creased the messily bound wrapping, undoing the tape. Iggy was curling his long fingers over anxiously. He turned his head in Angel's direction, as if he were communicating with her. It was pretty obvious he'd asked her help for Nudge's present.

"Iggy?" Nudge whispered. "Is this from you?"

"Yeah," he said, lowering his head.

"Its… amazing," she said softly.

"Well, yeah, because I knew you liked fashion and jewelry and that kind of stuff, so it seemed like you'd like it and I made it so… yeah." He swallowed, visibly nervous because he couldn't see the glow on Nudge's face.

He'd gotten her a necklace, a simple silver chain with a pendant. But the pendant was wooden, hand carved.

"You _made_ it?" Nudge fingered the tiny timber wing.

"I can carve without having to see, just like I can cook," Iggy said. Wow. I never knew the flock was so artistic. Weird.

She smiled, putting it on her neck carefully. "Before I hug you, I want you to see my present to you. And don't ask where I got it. I'm a computer hacker."

His sightless eyes widened. The rest of the flock was watching on curiously. She gently took the bomb-shaped brown package from Gazzy out of his hands and lugged a bright silver box in front of him. He reached out his pale hand, ripping it along the side. It was some kind of hosey-thing.

"What…?" Iggy asked, feeling along the pipe.

Nudge leaned over and whispered into his ear. Iggy's jaw positively dropped.

"Nudge… what is this?" I asked sternly.

"Okay, but before I tell you, I want you to know that I'll make him promise not to use it in the house or anywhere near people or within ten miles of-"

"Is it a flamethrower?" questioned Gazzy in worshipful awe.

"Yes."

Iggy embraced Nudge, never moving his hand off of the flamethrower.

Fang tightened in surprise, and I wrote a mental note to limit its use tomorrow. I couldn't ruin Christmas.

"You're one lucky guy," I told Iggy, shaking my head in disbelief. "Okay, Fang?"

He held up my present to him, and I pushed away the warm feeling that I got because he picked mine first.

He pulled the plain green wrapping off, and looked at the large book and small ornament. I was watching him anxiously, looking for any signed of dissatisfaction.

"Is it… astronomy?" He turned the large, ancient book over.

"Yeah, because you liked to read so much more than me, and we live in Colorado, where there are tons of stars and planets and things really visible, and its old, too, because I wanted it to be more special…" I trailed off.

He didn't respond, picking up the ornament. It was a large glass E with a tiny F, M, I, N, G, and A engraved on each of ends and corners. I knew better than to press Fang for an opinion.

His eyes were tender. "Wow, Max. I- I love them."

Didn't see that mushy outbreak coming.

I swallowed. "That's good," I said huskily.

"Open mine," he said stoically.

I pulled apart the red wrapping, trying not to look too eager. "It's a notebook," I stated, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Yeah, but it has some of my, uh, drawings in them," he said, looking like he would rather sink through the floor.

I flipped it open, and was shocked to see detailed, textured sketches of bells, wings, the rocky landscape of Colorado, and people. Every member of the flock was elaborated and perfected, their personalities shining through the strokes of pencil.

I stared at them, my jaw hanging open. "Are these… for me?" I whispered. It appeared we had several artists in the family. Angel and Fang with their drawings, Iggy with his carving, Nudge with her fashion designs… The Gasman and I were the only uncreative ones, it seemed.

"Only if you want them," he muttered.

I had only seen the first few pages. It was incredible how skilled they were.

"These are unbelievable," I said earnestly.

"Thanks… I think?" he smirked.

I grinned back, and we resumed ripping open gifts from us to each other.

…

Fang crept into Max's bedroom stealthily. He knocked quietly on her door, and heard her say come in.

"Let's fly." The words slipped out of his mouth purposefully. Max was lounging on her bed, various presents scattered about her room, and she was flipping through his drawings, stopping to look at the picture of herself. It was the spitting image of Max when she was determined to do something. Her mixture of dark and light hair was pushed behind her, and her thin eyebrows were set over her dark eyes.

She didn't hesitate. "Okay."

Fang led the way towards the same clearing that Iggy, Gazzy and Nudge frequently visited to blow things up. But he flew on to yet another, snow-filled and magical-looking glade. A tiny red robin fluttered in a bare oak tree. His heart was pounding, and he had no idea what he was doing.

He leaned casually against a sapling, feeling it creak as his lean form bent his weight on it. Max landed, her feet sinking into the snow, and she trudged over to him, her face unreadable, but amusement flickering in her eyes.

**Hate it? Love it? Indifferent? Gah, hate it when people are indifferent, please don't be. So… I know I said there'd be more FAX, and believe me, this is just an intro. Things will speed up from this chappie on…**

**So REVIEW to see what'll happen!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm updating this REALLY early, so be cheerful! Though now I have to go write up the next chapter really quickly… it's going to be fun :) **

**Happy almost New Year! And I once again thank everyone for the reviews! I got over 50! You are all the best. Ever. The support and praise makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and encouraged. **

**So in this chappie I REALLY pick up the Fax. A huge leap for my writing. Try to love it, for me? It's all cheesy and fluffy, but hey. I **_**like**_** cheesy and fluffy. And it's my story. **

**Oh, and there's also a little Niggy, 'course. They're just so funny; I have to include 'em.**

I stood in the light snow under a small pine tree. Fang had joined me, and there was a silence while we caught our breath from the long flight. I decided to open up the conversation.

"You know, you never told us your favorite word," I said, absentmindedly picking the bark off of a tree.

Fang laugh quietly. "There are too many words in English. Too hard to decide."

I grinned. "Can I help narrow it down for you?"

He looked at me uncertainly. "Okay."

"Just say one word that fits what I ask." I thought for a moment. "What you wish you could be."

He didn't blink. "Untouchable."

"Do you mean in the physical sense or emotion-" I started to ask.

"Nope," he interrupted me. "Next."

"What you feel the most."

"Affection," he said after a while.

I let out my breath shakily. "Okay. The best thing you've ever felt." These cheesy statements were all coming from some unused place in my head.

"Flying."

He was walking steadily closer to me now, and I was unfailingly avoiding his eyes.

"What you always want to have."

I forced my eyes to look at his. The blackness and tenderness and sincerity in his eyes almost made me want to cry.

"You."

"What?" Because Fang is _not_ one of those people who says mushy things, even though when they aren't mushy they still make your heart speed up-

He didn't answer me directly. By now we were a foot apart, and I had to lift my chin a tiny bit to look back at him.

"Max?" He took half a step into me, his hands lifted from where they had been at his sides.

"Y-yeah?"

"Am I your hero?" he asked. I remembered my chosen word.

But before I could answer, or think of an answer, he had leaned closer. His hands rested on my waist, and I raised my arms slightly, so that they were placed on his biceps.

His head bent over, and his lips pressed themselves against mine.

The thing that made it all the more sweet was that neither of us was experienced. Our mouths were melded together tightly, and I unconsciously tilted my head to the side, reaching my arms around his neck.

My mouth opened slowly, only a tiny bit, but enough to taste the peppermint-y and clean, fresh, woodsy smell that made Fang. I breathed in through my nose, just savoring the moment. My eyes were closed, and I couldn't help but think. This was the most open and unguarded I'd ever been. Ever.

It was shatteringly beautiful, and new, and scary. I didn't know whether to push away from his quivering, hard body, or to keep going, until we ran out of air.

Of course, I pushed away, frightened by how perfect it was.

Fang, startled by how quickly I'd gone from passionate to cold, stumbled backwards. Hurt and pain flashed across his face for a second, but he rearranged his features almost immediately to polite indifference.

"I'm sorry," he said.

My brain made me say, "S'fine." I regretted that. There were hundreds of other things I could have said.

"Fang-" I started to say, but he cut me off.

"I-I won't do that again." A blazing look took over his face.

Tears involuntarily filled my eyes. I was speechless, not having the remotest idea of what to say. It wasn't like I didn't _want_ him to kiss me. Or think of me that way. Or for me to think of _him_ that way. I was just so confused. Inside of my head, I was forced to admit that I _absolutely did not_ want Fang to say he wouldn't do that again. But he had.

Did he regret it?

"But- I- oh-okay." I stared at the ground so intensely I wouldn't have been surprised if the snow caught on fire.

"Should we head ba-?"

He was interrupted by my lips. If Fang wouldn't do it again, I would. Because I'm _not_ one of those girls that always waits for the guy to make the first move. Even if he already did make the first move.

It was a split-second decision, and my veins were pumped with adrenaline. Fear that I was throwing away my constant friendship with Fang, that I was coming on too strong, that I was a bad kisser (God forbid…) all jumbled in my mind.

Fang recovered quickly, pulling his hands out of his jacket to wrap around my waist and pull me closer. Our combined breath misted in the cold air.

We both finally pulled apart, gasping. Before he could talk, I said, "I don't want to figure this out, Fang."

"What is there to figure out?" he inquired.

"I… want you to be my friend," I clarified.

"After _that_?" Why did he always make everything so _difficult_?

"Yeah," I said ingeniously. "Friends."

"Max," he said.

But I had already flown off, back to the house, my heart pounding, full of weird muddled joy and a thousand pounds of _more_ regret that I was leaving him behind.

…

"-some to me now."

"No way."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Pleeeeease?"

"I'm blind, Nudge."

"Darn."

Iggy was freezing the peppermint bark tantalizingly slow. He had sifted the liquid milk chocolate and peppermint crumbs onto a pan, and set it out on the patio table to freeze in the snow.

"It would be a lot faster in the freezer than outside, you know," Nudge said, crossing her wiry arms.

"I don't trust the freezer."

"You're mental, Iggy."

He chuckled. "I know."

"One taste," Nudge resumed begging. "A spoonful!"

"Dance for me, puppet!" Iggy cackled evilly.

She groaned. Bambi Eyes were useless on Iggy.

"What can I do to get you to give me some peppermint bark?" she asked piteously.

"You can wait."

"NO!"

"It has to be solid to enjoy!" Iggy cried.

"Liquid would be just as delicious."

"No it isn't."

"Gah!" She held up her hands in defeat.

He didn't see her gesture, but still nodded his head. "See? I always win arguments."

Nudge narrowed her eyes. "You should _not_ have said that."

…

I didn't know if Fang had returned home or not. Everything was in turmoil: Fang _kissed_ me; I pushed away, and then kissed _him_, and finally told him I _just want to be friends_. I was such a cruel person. And since when did Fang and I feel… that way about each other?

I sighed in exasperation, and walked into the kitchen. I'd just flown a long way, and breakfast seemed years back.

"What the…?" I started to ask.

Nudge appeared to be shoving a tin-foil wrapped tray into the freezer with a satisfied grin on her face, and there was a pounding on the walk-in cabinet where our food supply was stored.

"Lemme out!" Iggy yelled, muffled by the door.

"Nudge…?" I looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I just wanted a piece of peppermint bark!" she defended. She held up a square of chocolate, scattered with bits of candy cane.

"Okay, so why is Iggy locked in the cabinet?"

"He wouldn't let me have any until it was fully solidified, or frozen, whatever, and I told him I only wanted a _tiny piece_ but he said nooooo, and then he was all smug and annoying because apparently he thought he always got his way, but I… managed to… _orient_ him into the cabinet, and took some peppermint bark to eat, 'cause I was _starving_ and it looked delicious, and then I put the rest in the freezer for you guys. Oh, and Iggy thinks the freezer is evil," Nudge finished.

"Wow. Um, can I have some…?"

"Get me out of the freakin' cabinet, Max! She's evil! EVIL, I TELL YOU!"

"Am not!" Nudge unlocked the door, but before Iggy could shoot out she threw a spoon at him. I heard a _thunk_ and the blind kid groaned.

"Anyways, Max, take as much as you want." Nudge beamed and walked onto the patio, grabbing a mug of hot chocolate.

After helping myself to a couple of squares of chocolaty, minty goodness, I headed upstairs, my mind still muddled and dejected, but less hungry.

Gazzy was sitting on the upstairs sofa, his blue eyes wide. "Max, what happened to Fang?"

I froze. "What do you mean, Gazzy?"

"Well, a couple 'a minutes ago, he stormed in here all angry and scary, goin' his room. And Angel won't tell me!" he cried.

"Nothing," I said. "Just a little… squabble."

"'Bout what?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing important," I replied quickly. "Now how about you go ask Angel if she wants to play with that Lego set Nudge bought you?"

He nodded, walking slowly back into his room to retrieve his present.

…

Dinner was mouthwatering. After Iggy recovered from being heaved and locked into a cabinet for several hours and hit with a spoon, he set to cooking up a _turkey_. Yes, a WHOLE TURKEY. He'd found it in the spare freezer in the food supply cabinet.

It was like Thanksgiving all over again: mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, ice cream (of course), eggs, chicken nuggets, salad, and tons more for us calorie-consuming bird kids. I had already called dibs on the dark meat of the turkey leg.

All of the flock but Fang and I were the same as usual- talkative, happy, and slightly crestfallen because Christmas was over.

Fang didn't even say a single word- not that that was in any way out of the ordinary. But he didn't make eye contact with me, or even look up from his plate, which he ravenously devoured. He muttered good night, and strode up the stairs to his room.

For some reason I felt like I was going to cry. Jeez, what was wrong with me?

_Nothing's wrong with you, Max. _It was Angel. _Fang is just hurting, and you're both confused. I can feel it. _

_Very helpful,_ I thought to her sarcastically, finishing off the turkey leg. I shooed everyone to bed after making them all clear their plates, and tucked in Angel and Gazzy.

I went to my room, and before turning the lights off, I looked at the picture Fang had drawn of me again.

**Guess who's comin' in the next chapter? The Hated of the Hated. I'M SORRY! Jealousy is my tool that I must use often… +evil cackle+**

**Review for me, puppets! Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry… but the hiker (oh, what the heck, you know who it'll be, and he's in this chapter anyways), I mean Dylan, will be entering. And he will be like he is in the books: A sap, kinda nice (DON'T KILL ME!), programmed to love Max. All of that crap. So don't think that he'll be some bloodthirsty womanizer. **

**Just a warning ^**

**And I'm SORRY that Max is so mean to Fang. I HAD TO DO IT! THE EVIL DYLAN IN MY HEAD MADE ME! **

**R&R!**

I slept in even later than usual, which is saying something. I groaned- maybe I was just trying to avoid an inevitable job- getting rid of the Christmas tree.

And then there was Fang.

Iggy was cooking in the kitchen, though how he always got up early enough to make delicious, several-hundred-calorie-filled breakfasts every morning, being a teenager in need of sleep, I didn't know. But I was grateful for it.

Everyone was at the wooden table already, throwing food down their throats as usual. Fang still refused to talk or make any social effort, but I think Nudge made up for his un-talkativeness, chattering away with- well, actually, _to_- Gazzy about explosions and how she enjoyed the technical part, but the actual blowing up was gruesome if it involved any kind of living, even a plant, getting destroyed and also there was the fact that it sometimes stained or burned her clothes, and she was very fond of the wide assortment of fabrics and brands that was in her closet and she didn't plan to lose or damage any of them any time soon, so she couldn't do the part of activating the bomb, because it involved the risk of getting her clothes ruined, and like she said, she liked the wide assortment of fabrics… speaking _not_ of which, wasn't Gazzy sad and heartbroken that Christmas was over? Well, there was New Year's Eve coming up…

I tuned her out, wolfing down my scrambled, cheesy eggs, bacon, and sausages. Then I stood up, seeing that everyone was done, and went to my room to grab my coat and gloves.

Iggy wasn't in the kitchen anymore- instead he was sitting in his room, his pale face flushing red as he trailed his fingers over a weird, thick book of raised bumps.

"Ig? Whatcha doin'?" I asked.

"Attempting to figure out the braille book Angel got me as a Christmas present. What do you need?" he said, closing the book with a thump.

"I need help carrying the Christmas tree back into the forest. Care to help me?"

He stood. "Sure, I'll get Fang, if you haven't already."

"Fang?" I asked timidly.

"Yeah, who were you thinking of asking to help us lug a gigantic tree weighing several tons out of the living room and through the backyard? Angel?" He snorted. "I'll get him."

…

"Okay, I'll get the middle, Iggy, you get the top-"

"So I'm not strong enough to carry any part but the tip?"

"-And Fang, you got the stump," I continued, ignoring Iggy. And Fang, for that matter.

We grabbed the spiky, sticky, barky, needle-y pine tree, and heaved it up on its side. There was no way to fly down while carrying it, so we were forced to bring it down from our highly elevated house the same way we brought it up. Roll it. Though it was much easier going down, since we just let go and let it bounce, cracking rocks and echoing off of the nearby mountains. And then the three of us picked it up again, trudging through the snow to the forest.

"Just drop it here," I instructed. The tree fell with a clunk. And we flew back. Iggy went faster than Fang and I, as I knew he was eager to get back to the warmth and familiarity of the house.

"Fang, are you okay?" I asked, craving anything but the tense silence. Not the comfortable, easy quiet that I normally felt with him.

He looked at me. And that was all he needed to do. The only thing he could have done, to make me understand what a mean person I was. And then he raced to the house, his black wings glinting in the cold winter sun.

In his eyes I'd seen myself kiss him, unexpectedly, forgiving him. Then I'd pulled away. Told him what my actions said the opposite- that I didn't want it to become anything bigger. Just friends.

Not even best friends, I could tell, any more.

So no, Fang wasn't okay. And it was my entire fault. Though I wasn't too great myself.

I arrived at the E-shaped lodge minutes after the two boys, but I could sense some kind of commotion. Nudge answered me at the doorbell, her eyes wide.

"What's up, Nudge?" I asked, darting my eyes past the hall.

"Max! There's a _guy_. At our _house_. He says he's lost his way on a hike." For once Nudge didn't gush, only looked wary and disbelieving.

I strode into the living room. Gazzy, Iggy, Fang, and Angel were crowding a seat where a tall, blonde teenage boy was seated, his coat still on. Gazzy saw me coming.

"That's Max. She'll get the truth outta you," he said, plopping himself down on the couch, watching attentively.

"What's all this?" I asked sharply.

"Dylan rang our doorbell ten minutes ago," said Angel. I could tell she was hiding something, from the way she refused to answer my mental barricade of questions.

"Hi," Dylan greeted, looking at me in… awe?

"Hey," I said briskly. "So you found our house by accident, did you?"

"Yes." His blue eyes looked deep into mine.

"The truth," I snapped.

He shrunk back.

"For one thing, you _rang our doorbell_. Our house is several meters off of the ground. How would you get on the patio?"

"The truth?" he asked under the glare of Fang, Iggy, Nudge and I. "I flew." He stood, taking off his coat, extending his avian wings.

Just like ours.

"Uh…" I was lost for words for a couple of seconds, and finally recovered rapidly. "So you're from the School, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "No, a different-"

"Thought we were idiots?" I interrupted icily. "They thought we would automatically believe anyone else with wings. Well, let me tell you, _Dylan_." I was three inches from him. "We don't trust _anyone_ but us. So we're gonna make sure no one from the School will ever find us again. So we'll just have to eliminate you forever and-"

"Max!" It was Angel.

"Right. Angel, check him out. His head."

"Max! Iggy already punched him. He thought he was an Eraser. But Max, he's telling the truth!" Angel smiled ruefully at the blonde boy.

"Telling the truth about what?" I asked testily.

"Dylan isn't from the School. He was sent to us, though-" She sent an apologetic look to Dylan, catching his lie about coming here by accident "- by some other scientist. I'm not sure why."

"And they just expect us to let him stay with us for a day?" I looked incredulously at Angel, stunned by this turn of events.

"Not for a day," she responded.

"Oh, _really_?" I asked sarcastically. "Well that sucks for him, don't it?" That didn't even make sense.

"_Doesn't_ it," Angel helpfully reminded me. Not.

"Um… hello?" Dylan said, looking nervously at me, like I would snap his neck if he tried to disagree with me. Which I would.

"What," I said tightly. I was _pretty_ darn irritated that someone had disturbed our sorta-kinda peace. For hormonal bird kids.

"You won't believe me," he began, ignoring my sneer. "But I seriously didn't try to come here. I'm really not from the school, or whatever you call it. They- the scientists who made me- they told where to go. To you guys. 'Cause they didn't want me anymore."

Iggy muttered something under his breath.

"I tried to walk in the other direction, but somehow I always ended up going towards Colorado. Towards your house." He glanced at me for some reason, and then quickly looked away, his face coloring for a split second. "I'm sorry. But I just… they programmed me to be this way."

My face hardened. "Well, too bad for you. Let's get you on the road, 'cause we aren't accepting any new members to this secret household."

"Max," Angel said, looking weirdly and hilariously like a scolding parent. "Dylan's the only other avian hybrid we've ever seen. Don't you think we should let him stay the night? I didn't see any hotels at the nearby town."

"No," I started to say, but Fang, Iggy, and the other flock members gestured me into the kitchen.

"Guys, we could learn about him and the other scientists!" said Angel, looking up at us with eager blue eyes.

"Yeah, because you haven't already poked through his head," I said sarcastically, trying desperately to get an answer out of her through my head.

"Maybe…" Iggy looked unsure. "He's just a kid, Max. What harm could he do?"

"He could be a spy," I replied anxiously. I had a bad feeling about him, but I didn't think he was a spy. In fact, he seemed pretty… nice, I guess. It was a hunch.

"Let him stay," a deep voice said. Fang's.

"Oh, Mr. Hospitality now aren't y-?" I began, and then stopped, knowing it would only hurt him more. And hurt me by hurting him. His brows pulled together as he looked away.

"We gotta try to be nicer than the scientists, though, Max," Gazzy implored, his big blue eyes pleading me.

I grumbled something about how being exclusive is not exactly experimenting on infants, but by that time the flock had decided. Down with the Maxocracy.

Stupid mind control.

**Try not to rant angrily for TOO long...**

**So I'm not going to update for a while, because homework, nonfanfic stories, soccer practice, and other sports have taken up are taking their toll. I'm going to wait for at least 15 more reviews… Because I need time to write it up. Believe me, I know where I'm goin' with this. **

**So… REVIEW! **


	9. Chapter 9

**ARRGGGGHHHHH! DON'T KILL ME TOO PAINFULLY!**

**I KNOW. It's been SIX FLIPPING MONTHS since the last update. And there are only two words I can say:**

**I'm sorry. **

**Really, I am. I hate neglecting stories, and I always enjoy writing this one. It's fun and loose and I can work with the flock. They're very agreeable when you have enough chocolate-chip cookies… But now it's SUMMERTIME. So I can write (mostly) whenever I want! So enjoy this extremely late chapter:**

"Do you want to stay here for a while… I guess?" I asked ungraciously.

Dylan's whole face lit up and then darkened in less than a second. "You sure?" he enquired.

"No. Now go get some food, for Pete's sake." I strode out of the room, not bothering to look back.

I went upstairs, only to find that Fang was sitting on the couch. I intended on ignoring him, thinking that would be easiest. Yes, it was cruel, but I wasn't the kind of person to confront my fears. Well, not _fears_… more of… embarrassment? Confusion? Maybe.

But _Fang_ was _not_ the kind of person that avoided confronting… issues. I had assumed he would continue with the whole not-talking-thing that broke my heart. Fang is a normally quiet person, but his quietness had different-emotion-kind of quietness. This silence… it was a wall. A brick barrier.

"Max," he said. His voice, no matter what Nudge would say (her being a romantic and all) wasn't dripping with longing, or coated with sadness, or bitterness. It was a simple syllable, spoken like he was a guidance counselor, trying to soothe a patient.

I paused, my voice suddenly unable to be of use. I think my throat squeaked. "Y-yeah?"

He didn't talk about the incident in the mountains the day before. All he asked was, "Do you _know_ Dylan?"

"No!" I replied defensively. "Why would you think that?"

He shrugged. "He looked at you like… _he_ knows _you_."

"Creepy," I said, trying to put a smile on my face, to revert to our normal conversation routes.

He didn't respond, just flipped on the TV, blasting on the news. I gave him a hard look that I doubt he saw, my eyes full of regret, and walked quickly into my bedroom to bury myself into my pillows.

…

"Max?"

I froze in panic under my covers. That voice wasn't Angel's or Iggy's or any of the flock members.

It wasn't even Fang's. It was _Dylan's_.

"Just _what_ do you think you're doing in my _room_?" I asked, even though I was still in my jeans and tank top- it wasn't like he interrupted me in a… _private_ moment.

"I… I wanted to ask you a question," he stuttered. "I didn't know you were sleeping…"

"Get on with it," I snapped.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked bluntly. Yeesh, not much small talk with this guy.

"Yes. You're Dylan, the annoying surfer guy crashing at our secret house," I replied frostily.

"Oh, okay," he said. "Well, do you mind if I introduce myself to you privately?"

"I might be taking your request the wrong way right now," I said, flushing. I was sitting on my bed, while Dylan stood in the doorway.

"No. No! That's not what I was thinking at all!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I denied, looking away to avoid embarrassment.

"I mean, I wasn't made like you guys. Like the flock. I was created only a couple of months ago."

"Weirdo," I couldn't help but say.

He continued on. "I was programmed to be the partner of an avian hybrid. They had big plans for that girl. _Big_ plans." Lalalalala. Not looking at him, so I can't think about his strange blue eyes…

"I don't care," I interjected rudely. "I barely know you, you don't know me, can we just skip this whole strange, dramatic speech and-"

"_Please,_ Max."

"Dude." I pressed my lips tightly together. "You just told me you're not even a year old. _Kinda_ creepy."

"Don't judge me so fast," he said, looking hurt.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry for offending you, Uninvited Guest."

"Anyways, this girl was _you_. But you escaped a while ago, and they abandoned those plans, and me. So I went looking for my partner." _Stalker._

So maybe I was being a little hard on him. Well, no one said I had good social skills.

Wait.

"You're my _partner_?"

"Programmed to be your romantic partner, actually. A future spouse."

"W-what is this? What the hell?" I sputtered, just realizing what he said.

"I just told you. That's why I kept feeling like I had to stay here. Because I _have_ to love-"

That was when I punched his gut. Not hard, but hard enough to shut him up. "Jeezum, you _are_ only a couple of months old, aren't you?" I questioned.

"What?" he was doubled over a little.

I shook my head, mentally rolling my eyes. "Dylan, please."

"Max, do you feel anything about me?" he was looking really hard into my eyes.

"We met two minutes ago." Jeez, was he high on soap operas or something?

"Well, I mean…"

He was now standing really near me. Sure, Dylan was pretty hot. I wasn't denying it. But still, it felt a little uncomfortable to have someone I didn't know so near me. Made me want to punch him again. Harder. In his handsome face.

"Max, ever since I was created, I've loved you. Even though I didn't know you. And now I really don't want to ruin it by being anyone you don't want me to be."

"How about being a little bit more in tune to my personal space?" I fake-smiled at him, ignoring the mushy part of his words.

"Okay, I'm coming on too strong," he said regretfully, looking like he wanted to repeatedly ram his head onto a wall.

"_Yeah._"

"Look, I don't know how to act perfectly yet, okay?"

"I don't care if you act perfectly, Dylan. But you're obviously new on planet Earth, which is a little weird, since you look maybe fifteen years old," I said, looking away from him. Hot but dumb. Well, maybe not that dumb. But when I thought about what he had said about a _future spouse_, I wanted to be sick.

…

Gazzy walked into the kitchen, his stomach growling. Iggy had been late with lunch, and Gazzy wouldn't let that slide.

"Igs!" he yelled, and was rewarded with the sweet, rich smell of brownies.

"No, not that many sprinkles, Nudge. NUDGE! I can _hear_ them raining on the batter…" Gazzy rounded the corner to see Nudge and Iggy side by side, dark and light contrasting startlingly. They were facing the counter, where the delicious smell was coming from.

Nudge was giggling, for once not talking, as she emptied the rainbow sprinkles onto the thick, chocolate liquid.

"Iggy! Nudge!" Gazzy said loudly. They both jumped.

"We're having brownies for lunch?" the eight-year-old asked.

"Crap!" Iggy exclaimed. "I forgot about lunch!"

The Gasman stared at him, speechless. "You _never_ forget lunch. Ever."

"Sorry, dude," Iggy said, and Nudge grinned. "Are brownies okay? We have four batches," she said.

"Sure, brownies sound fine," replied Gazzy, looking suspiciously at the two. He decided not to complain, since… _homemade_ _brownies for lunch._ "But we might need more than four."

"On it." Nudge quickly raced to the pantry, probably to get more of the mix.

"Iggy, we need to go finish our giant stink bomb before it gets unstable," the younger boy said while Nudge was gone.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. After lunch the three of us can go to the clearing," replied Iggy, leaning against the counter.

"But Nudge _hates_ stink bombs."

"Oh, I forgot…" the tall boy looked uncomfortable. "Do you think she'd be okay with us ditching her?"

"She'll be fine. She's Nudge. Just give her some fabric and walk away, and she won't even notice," suggested Gazzy. He wondered why Iggy seemed reluctant. They always used to go without Nudge!

"Okay, sure, I guess," said Iggy anxiously.

…

Fang turned off the news after a couple of minutes. It was getting boring; despite his lectures to the younger kids about how important it is to educate themselves about the outside world.

He stood up. Dylan got on his nerves, even though he'd only been at their house for an hour. But Fang didn't want him to leave knowing where they were. Who knows, he could be a spy, and might tell the scientists their location. And if Dylan stayed, Fang could determine whether they should maim him or send him off as a temporary guest. There was no option in which he stayed here for long, though.

He stared at Max in a way that made Fang want to punch his lights out.

He walked quietly over to his room, but there was nothing to do. Usually he'd be talking to Max, or playing a board game with the flock. But Nudge and Iggy were cooking God-knows-what, Angel was napping, and Gazzy had been experimenting with creating and destroying Lego towns last time he checked.

Maybe he should talk to Dylan, try to intimidate a truth out of him. Fang bet if it got down to a fight, he'd win on skill alone. He got up from his bed, pausing to listen for where Dylan was.

He heard talking from Max's room. Anger flared in his chest. What were they doing in her _room_?

He strode over, pausing at the doorway. The door was open, revealing Dylan speaking earnestly to Max, and Max leaning away, but not fully rejecting him. She kept looking in the opposite direction of his presence, as though she were tempted to peek. Fang's chest burned brighter and hotter, until it was all he could do to keep puffs of smoke from exhaling out of his mouth.

"Excuse me," he said icily, not bothering to care whether he'd interrupted them or not. "But could I see Dylan for a moment?"

The blonde-haired boy jumped away from Max, and Max's head snapped to face Fang, her eyes blank and guarded. As were Fang's dark ones. He wasn't letting her get the best of him anymore.

**Okay, so I know it's been a while and everything, but it would be amazing to get some encouragement from you guys! I didn't get so much feedback about the last chapter, and I hope this time there'll be more.**

** Oh, and do you like the cover I made for the story?**

**Review? Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty please? I just want to know whether or not y'all are still interested.**

**-Sayler (and yes, I KNOW you guys hate Dylan. Like I said before, I'm evil). **


	10. Chapter 10

**OMG! So much support. Thank you all so much for reviewing, it inspired me to write another chappie! So you're all welcome ;) It has been summer and I have been absorbed in the world of WattPad and traveling back to the US of A to see my old family and friends. 'Twas mucho amazing.**

**Yeah, yeah, I know you all hate Dylan, I do too (last book coming out… already pre-ordered… I am fully prepared to track down JPatty and do something drastic if Mylan prevails). **

**Enjoy!**

"So, Dylan, cut the crap about feeling the mystical pull towards our house," Fang said, looking at Dylan's blue eyes with a frigid intensity in his darker ones. "And tell me why you're here."

"What do you mean?" Dylan countered, refusing to look intimidated.

"I mean what I asked. Now answer."

"What you said. Mystical pull and stuff." Fang sighed in exasperation.

"Okay… how long do you plan to stay here?" Fang continued to question him.

Dylan suddenly looked uncomfortable, though the blonde boy seemed to be getting a bit angry as well. "I don't know."

Fang's jaw locked. This stupid guy could not possibly think he could just fly into their house and welcome himself in. It was _their_ flock. Max hadn't even wanted him here in the first place. That had pacified Fang a bit at first, even made him tell Max to let him stay the night.

But now? Dylan had gone into Max's _bedroom._

He had to leave.

"Not to make you feel unwelcome, but I don't think we want you staying here longer than a night. You are, after all, only a _hiker_ stopping by," Fang told him icily, his face impassive.

"I'll stay as long as Max will let me."

"I don't think that will be very long," replied Fang confidently. Still, he hoped Dylan didn't see the weird, burning pain in his chest just seeing Max and knowing that she didn't want him as any more than friends. It couldn't be too obvious in his eyes, could it? Fang had spent his lifetime perfecting a mask of indifference. He used it often.

Dylan didn't reply, only shook his head and walked away. Fang strode into his room, ripping open the window, punching through his screen, and finally jumping out into the open air, feeling his wings tear through his t-shirt. Oh, well. There were enough black shirts in his closet to last him a while, at least.

Feeling a strange, new, unexplained rage and despair in his gut, he soared past mountains, finally landing where he and Max had had that stupid kiss. There he started running. Flying wasn't enough. He had to push through the snow, using his anger to keep him going, even when exhaustion took him far away from the place where the deed was done.

At last, Fang lay on a cliff where snow had fallen off of, so that the rock showed through the slushy white stuff.

He sat there for a while, listening as his breathing finally calmed down.

….

I rolled over in my bed. Stupid Fang. Stupid weird, overly romantic boy I don't even really know that decided to crash at our house. Stupid Angel, who was trying to talk to me and was no doubt listening to my thoughts right now.

Stupid _everything_. The _world_ was stupid. _Love_ was stupid.

_Especially_ love.

As I lay there upside-down, my head lolling off and giving my neck a cramp, I finally gave in and let Angel into my room.

"Whatever. Come in, Angel," I grumbled.

She noisily swung the door open, and to my surprise, Nudge was there, too.

"Nudge? Why aren't you out with the guys playing with explosions?" I asked.

She pouted. It was hard to tell if she was really upset or just joking. "They didn't invite me. Iggy and Gazzy disappeared after I went to get more brownies."

"Okey-dokey," I muttered, not really listening.

"Anyways," said Angel. She had a familiar look on her face. I rolled back upright so I could see her straight. It was her determined face.

Uh-oh.

"Nudge and I have a favor to ask you," Angel began, and Nudge nodded furiously behind her.

"Um… do I have to agree to it?" I asked cautiously.

"We'll do it anyways," the devil of a six-year old informed me. I rolled my eyes.

"Thought I was the leader. You're supposed to listen to me," I complained.

"But… Max. We _really_ want to," pleaded Nudge.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!" I whisper-shrieked.

"Oh. Right. That." Nudge looked at Angel, who nodded at her to speak. Nudge rattled off, "So, Angel and I want to, like, go to school and have a normal experience and meet guys, well, more in my case than hers, though technically I already like someone else that doesn't like me back because I'm only eleven and I get really sad about it but hey, there are more fish in the sea and I'm too awesome to get too heartbroken and oh yeah we want to go to school and make friends and stuff over at the nearby town we promise not to reveal our wings and stuff. It'd be great if the rest of the flock went, too, but the main thing we wanted to tell you was that Angel and I are going to sign up for the public school there, we'll settle all of the legal stuff, and that's final."

She took a breath. I stared at them, wide-eyed.

"You guys. Want. To. Go. To. _School?_" I asked. My face probably looked amusingly befuddled.

"Yup," said Angel. "Please, please be willing to let us go."

Nudge turned the Bambi eyes on me, and I turned away. "But… I though you guys were fine with online schooling," I said, confused.

"Sure, it's fine, but the main thing is we want to _meet_ people and have an experience. Let's face it, we're going to get bored eventually," pointed out Angel.

I thought for a minute, all the while making sure Angel didn't try sneaking into my head. Sure, it seemed harmless letting them go, but what if there were people from the School trying to trace us? It would be easier for them to find us if we made too much contact with people. Then again, those two would probably stop at nothing to get their way.

"Fine," I sighed, but before the squeals of happiness got too lout, I held up my hand. "BUT-"

They looked up, waiting for an answer- well, Angel already knew, but… whatever.

"I'm going with you two to make sure you don't get in trouble," I told them, defeated. I _so_ didn't want to do this.

"EVEN BETTER!" shouted Nudge, dancing around. "So I read online that the school starts up again after Christmas break, which ends in two weeks I think, since it started on Christmas Eve. So that gives me _two weeks_ to arrange all of our supplies, clothes, and the legal stuff- don't worry, I'll just hack some stuff and make IDs or whatever we have to do- which isn't that long, but it's all we have. Maybe we can even convince the REST of the flock to come! That'd just be plain freaking amazing! And then if we get-"

"Nudge," I interrupted desperately. She finally shut up. "One problem: besides Angel, the two of us are as clueless and unschooled as… well… people Angel's age are _supposed _to be. I don't know if they'll like two older girls who basically just graduated from Starfall and moved on to other simple online courses."

"Don't worry," said Nudge dismissively. Seriously, when have they talked this up? They must have been planning for a while. "I'm fine for my age- because of my epic hacking skills, I'm pretty brilliant at math and reading for my age-" modest little bird kid we have here, don't we? "- and for you, well…" she looked at me doubtfully. "I'm sure you'll catch up. Math is pretty easy, I found out, for our awesome experimented-on brains, and you can read pretty well. Maybe you'll just be on the stupid side of the class for a couple months. As for science… I dunno. You'll probably be pretty good with chemistry." She giggled. "You know, because we listened to the white-coats all our lives?"

"Yeah, whatever," I said, not listening again. "Hey, Angel. What's up with Dylan? Is he leaving soon?"

She shrugged oh-so-innocently. "I don't know. You're the boss, Max."

Oh, _now_ I'm the mighty leader who makes all the decisions, huh?

"I'll go find him and sort it out," I grumbled, getting up off of my bed and walking downstairs, leaving the two girls to chatter about school supplies.

I looked at the clock in the kitchen- it was about three o'clock. Iggy and Gazzy were off somewhere, Nudge and Angel were upstairs- where had Fang gone? The two of them couldn't be talking for that long… right? What did Fang have to say to the weird kid, anyways?

Looking around, I finally saw Dylan in the living room, sitting on a couch expectantly, as if he'd been waiting for me. I eyed him suspiciously.

"I swear, if you start talking about programmed mates again, I'll kick your-"

"I know," he said shortly. "I was actually wondering how long I'm allowed to stay here. I don't really have anywhere else to go in the first place and, well…"

"Uh, I don't know," I said, racking my brain. "How long do you want to stay?"

A light glimmered in his electric blue eyes. "Oh, I don't know. Is there a spare bedroom?"

"I think so," I said quietly. "Seriously, though, Dylan." He looked up at me gravely, moving over on the couch, gesturing for me to join him. I sat down hesitantly, careful not to touch him.

"We can give you money for the road. You can find somewhere to go to school at, get a job- anything. But you can't stay forever."

"There's no open spot in your flock?" he asked jokingly, but I could tell there was a real seriousness in the question.

"No," I responded curtly.

"You're going to school in a few weeks, aren't you?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes," I aid, caught off-guard. "Were you listening in on us?"

"No, no. The younger, dark-skinned girl and Angel were talking about it in here earlier," he explained. "I was wondering if I could join that school."

I closed my eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea. You aren't staying with us. You should find some other town or state to stay in."

"But Max-"

My eyes snapped open. "Don't. Argue. With. Me."

"I'm sorry."

"Honestly?" I said. "I think you should leave today." Well, no one said I was big on hospitality.

"You want me to _leave_? _Forever?_" He sounded shocked.

"Well, you said you just needed somewhere to rest, right?"

"You feel _nothing_ with me?" He was incredulous.

"Nothing," I lied.

His face crumpled with hurt.

"You've only been here a few hours," I said gently. "Why would you think that I'd suddenly fall in love with you?"

"Well, I did with _you_," he replied, the disarming honesty making me wince.

…

**(Dylan/third-person POV, in case you can't tell)**

"Look, Dylan. You might think you're in love with me. But love isn't something scientists create."

"I would love you even if the scientists _didn't-_"

"Maybe," she interrupted him. "I mean, physically, you and I might be drawn to each other. White-coats could easily arrange for us to have chemistry and maybe even lust for each other. But they can't make true love. That comes from what's been developed inside."

He looked at her, his blue eyes deep with sadness. "Max-"

"You know you don't really want to be here."

Maybe it was true. He'd always love Max, the big 'if', the perfect girl. "It's because of Fang," he blurted.

Her breathing hitched. "What?"

"You like Fang," he said, admitting about the boy he'd been so insanely jealous of just seeing him look at Max.

"We're best friends, Dylan, and I know you'd assume that-" her gorgeous brown eyes were wide, and her voice was an octave higher than normal.

"If he makes you happy, Max, then I'll leave." He wished he hadn't forced himself on her so fast. Fang had always been there for her, like Dylan never was. Because he didn't exist then. Still.

"He does make me happy," she said quickly. "But not that wa-"

"Then it was nice getting to know you for the day, Maximum." He half-smiled, hiding the scorching, empty pain he felt inside.

She didn't say anything, only stared at him, her lips parted in good-bye.

_Maybe you can find Maya. The clone they replaced her with. _Dylan looked down, walking rapidly towards the balcony. He and Maya had been friends in the cages room, until they'd decided to release her into the world, with no more use of the girl. Dylan had been let go a month later.

She'd been nicer than Max, less hardened by the world, because the white-coats had treated her well, and after all, she was a newborn, like him.

Angel was sitting on the couch, her little face devoid of expression. "Good-bye, Dylan."

He smiled slightly at the little girl, and then extended his wings to fly.

**So… I **_**think**_** he's gone. Fangy's gonna be so happy! No promises that he's gone forever, though! But still… feel free to celebrate. Next stop… SCHOOL! Not the bad kind. Wait- the LESS bad kind. **

**Review and stuff. Hope ya enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So… I decided to update again! YAY! Ugh, school's killing me, though. Schoolwork's crazy and I'm doing terribly in Spanish :P **

**Enjoy! **

"We need pencils! Angel, where are the pencils? Don't tell me we have to go out and buy some, because I just spent yesterday buying everything Gazzy told me we didn't have in the house, and pencils weren't on there. Come to think of it, neither were clothes. GAZZY! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME TO BUY US MORE CLOTHES? I LOVE BUYING CLOTHES! YOU KNOW THAT. Wait- oh, I already got him ten new outfits. Never mind… Does everyone have their new super-cool backpacks? I got them out just for you guys. Max, if you complain about the checklists I gave you one more time, things will start being thrown at you-" Nudge ran through our bedrooms like a hurricane, jumping up and down and talking nonstop.

"Calm down, we already have everything," I said, sighing exasperatedly. School was tomorrow. Cheers.

"Yes, but I'm just so excited! I have to put my energy into something and this is the safest way for me to wait for school without deciding to go build a bomb!" Nudge said, whirling around and racing into Gazzy's room. I could hear Gazzy shouting for her to shut up already. Oh, well. Their fight, not mine.

Fang still wasn't talking to me, which was _really_ starting to… _annoy_ _me_- my choice of words put in for Angel's innocent sake. Sure, he wasn't really talking to _anyone_- nothing new- but ever since Dylan left I kept feeling him observing me when we watched movies or played Sorry. He answered anything as simply as possible, usually with a freaking yes or no.

But seriously. Maybe I was being insensitive, but it had been _two weeks_ since we… kissed, and he isn't acting like he wants to do what I said did- still be friends.

I _did_ want us to be friends, right?

Friends were always put first over girlfriends or boyfriends.

Friends were _always_ there for you, and didn't just want to make out with you.

Friends lasted. Friends weren't based on weird, unstable, lovey-dovey attraction.

Right?

Yes. Friends was a better option. I'm right. I always am.

Stupid Fang. Why'd he have to make everything so _complicated_? Well, come to think of it, I _did_ kinda kiss him back… but that was a thoughtless, spur-of-the-moment mistake.

I scowled at my backpack.

The guys of the flock had agreed to try school. It had only taken Nudge to plead with Iggy, and once Iggy had agreed Gazzy had given in- though he obviously didn't like sitting still in classrooms… well, none of us did, really- and Fang hadn't been opposed to the idea in the first place. Crazy learning-addict.

So apparently Nudge had already figured out how to forge and create fake IDs and birth certificates and all of the crap you need for getting into public school. It's always convenient to have a hacker in the family.

The school didn't exactly know that Iggy was blind- I think they'd have to hire someone to help him if that happened, and Iggy had made it clear to us that he did _not_ want an adult watching him all the time. So we arranged to have Fang or me in all of his classes. I was only in one of Fang's, thank goodness.

I had tried talking to the boy before, believe me. The last few days we'd had of what normal people called 'Winter Break' I'd made several attempts at conversation- but they only ended in me storming off in annoyance.

I'd even clumsily pointed out one afternoon- three days ago, I think- that when I'd said I wanted us to be friends, I'd really meant it.

"You aren't being my friend right now," I'd told him, my chest oddly tight. "That was what I wanted. Not for you to ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you," Fang had said. "I'm making things easier for you."

"What the heck are you talking about? I don't want things to be easier! I want you to be my best friend again!" Then I'd done what I had done many times before- stomped away.

Sure, there were probably better ways to do it, but Maximum Ride was not big on being humble and giving people time to think things over.

In the present, I ran downstairs to get some food- always, always, always hungry- but mostly to get away from Nudge, who was getting louder by the second.

"ANGEL?!" I yelled up the stairs when I had opened our large fridge.

"What?" she responded, skipping in from the living room. _I swear I didn't eat the last of the gummy worms. That was Gazzy. _

_Really? _ I asked disbelievingly.

_Okay, maybe it was me, but to be fair, I'd fallen asleep last night before dinner. I _had_ to have a midnight snack._

I rolled my eyes. But that reminded me about something else involving that stuff we put in our mouths and digest.

So we kinda-sorta-might be running out of food. I mean, we had all of the obvious stuff- _canned_ fruit, veggies, frozen meat- even this gross powdered milk. But as for fresh things… we barely had anything left after spending a month and a half here. Fresh fruit and vegetables were growing scarce, the regular milk was gone (including the ice cream, though not because it had gone bad), and all the bread was moldy (gross) except for the loaves Iggy was smart enough to freeze.

It was going to be a problem, I could tell. I knew that if Jeb had been with us he would have been able to easily go out and buy us more. But since he wasn't- and his current whereabouts were completely unknown, unfortunately- we were slowly going to go broke and hungry. _Very_ slowly, but still.

We had a lot of the cash Jeb had put in the house, but even that wouldn't last us long with all of our necessities.

I contemplated ways to get us out of the problem, but there seemed to be only one rational possibility.

But we'd have to discuss that later.

After I'd gotten my share of random heated up meat, microwaved pasta, and some canned pineapple that might count as my dinner (we didn't always have 'flock dinners', some days everyone was just every which way and people ate when they pleased), I walked into the living room. There was Angel, who seemed to have claimed the rocking chair as her personal reading spot. It was some kind of massive book about the civil war.

I sat on the couch next to her- the same couch that Fang and I had shared only weeks ago.

"Hey, Ange?" I said, startling the little mind-reader. Huh. Must've been pretty absorbed in that book.

"Yeah, Max?"

I decided to use my mind for the sake of privacy, though usually I tried to talk to her like we were normal people- HA! Sorry. Cracked myself up thinking about it.

_Why is Fang being all weird?_ I asked hesitantly. I knew Angel understood what I meant by 'weird'.

_Max…_ Her big blue eyes were tentative. _I really don't think that I'm allowed to interfere with anything like this. Especially since, you know, I'm six and romance is low on my list of expertise. _

_ROMANCE?_ I cringed. _I don't mean romantically. I'm talking friendship here. I want Fang to be my best friend again. _

_Just try to fix things. Fang is… well, hurt. _She looked down, staring at her swinging Velcro sneakers.

I couldn't breathe. I don't want Fang to be hurt. It sucks when Fang gets hurt, because then _Max_ hurts. Early in the School, whenever Fang got the brunt of some of the worse experiments, I always cried with him. And when we got older, there was less crying, but I still hurt.

I didn't listen to Angel anymore. Fang couldn't be as hurt as when we were in the School. That was excruciating. This was just complicated.

When it was dark, I arrived in my room again, after having aimlessly done nothing, picking up things, putting them down, trying to find Fang, just to _see_ him- but he wasn't in the house.

A door opened and closed quietly, so quietly I wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't been hanging off of my bed upside-down trying to make all of the blood rush to my head with my ears alert for any signs of the flock- Gazzy had persuaded Iggy to go try a new mixture of… something (with a promise of being home before eight), Nudge was in her room, double and triple checking her backpack and reading magazines I assumed Jeb had left for her around the house, and Angel was being herself and doing random, quiet things.

However, the door was in the south direction of the house, the same area that Fang's room was in.

My body landed on the wooden floor with a thump, seeming much louder to me than it probably was. Wincing in pain as my knees knocked onto the hard surface, I scrambled to my feet clumsily, uncomfortably aware that I'd worn the same baggy, faded orange T-shirt twice in a row, and that my shorts were basketball-style and down to my knees. Nudge's face had contorted when she saw me this morning.

After semi-successfully standing up, I walked over to Fang's door. It was white, just like the rest of the doors, in stark contrast to his dark walls.

I didn't knock. I wasn't going to be timid. I couldn't _do_ timid.

He didn't jump or make any sort of indication he'd heard me bust through the door noisily and clumsily. He just stayed lying on his bed, hands underneath the back of his head. Looked at me unblinkingly, seriously. I had no idea what _my_ face looked like. Probably wild and piercing, as it so often did when I was scared.

Maybe scared was an overstatement. I wasn't terrified of _Fang. _He was my best friend. In the world. No question.

Okay, was I scared? Yup.

"Fang?" I asked him slowly. This was feeling all too familiar. I was confronting him.

"Yeah." It wasn't a question at all, really.

Instead of starting an argument, as I was tempted to, I went over to him, sitting on his bed.

He stiffened a bit, placing his hands on his bed and pushing himself up into a sitting position next to me. This felt familiar as well, but in a better way. I felt suddenly _good_, unlike all of the times I'd fought with him over the past few days.

I was feeling an improvement in my mood all because he sat next to me.

I was getting pathetic.

I didn't care.

"I'm sorry," I said unthinkingly.

"For what?"

"Um… I, uh, forget," I stammered. Didn't really want to list all of the things I'd done wrong.

"Are you excited for school?" he asked me suddenly. His eyes went from to the floor to my face, piercing me.

"Not really," I admitted. "I don't like pretending I'm normal. I know I'm not, so why do I have to do the same things as normal kids?" Not a very strong reason, but it was true.

"To learn things," he answered. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Whatever," I muttered. "We've got TV."

He shook his head.

"Can we be best friends again?" I asked in a small voice after a period of silence.

Fang sighed. "You've always been my best friend. You always _will_ be my best friend."

"Good. I missed you, you know," I said, pulling up my legs and leaning on his hard shoulder.

He didn't answer. I was glad we were pretending the Incident had never happened. Not that I wish it hadn't… it had been a mistake, though. I mean, I had _wanted _to… I _still_ wanted to… I just didn't want our friendship to change. I loved Fang.

But was I _in_ love with Fang?

God, I hope not.

"Man, it's late," I murmured. "We have to get up early tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Stupid school, making us wake up at dawn."

"It's not dawn; we just have to be there at 8."

"It's a long flight."

"Not that long."

"I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"They'll know we're different."

"I don't think they will."

"Mmmm. Maybe not," I said drowsily. "I'm not nervous."

"Good."

"Like, at all."

"Okay."

"Fang?"

"What?"

I had put my head on his chest now, and Fang had lain down so we'd be more comfortable.

"Don't leave."

"This is _my_ room."

"Oh yeah. _I_ won't leave." I was _really_ tired.

"Okay. You can sleep here, if you want."

"Thanks."

I curled up by him, putting my arms around him like he was a teddy bear. His leg was warm through his dark jeans.

"'Night, Fang."

"Goodnight, Max." His voice sounded unusually tender, and his head fell onto the pillow next to me.

**Okay, SORTA a filler, but hey. It's an update. I PROMISE the school is in the next chapter. **

**PLEASE review! Makes me write a bajillion times faster. **

**I love you all! Until next time ;)**

**-The Sayler**


	12. Chapter 12

**WHAT IS THIS? A (pretty) EARLY UPDATE?! CELEBRATE WITH ME, PEOPLE! **

**Enjoyyy! XD**

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TWO _DOING_?"

I awoke to Nudge's astonished shriek. Iggy ran into the room, too. "Are they in the same _bed?_" he asked eagerly.

"Yes. MAX! FANG! WAKE FREAKING UP!"

I opened my eyes blearily. "Go 'way." I mumbled, trying to get back into the warmth and comfort of sleep.

"NO! It's already 7:30, and we have to be at school in half an hour! WAKE UP!" The sheets were gone, but I was still warm, like there was a heater next to me.

"They have their clothes on," Nudge told Iggy.

I let out a sigh, half asleep again.

"No. GAZZY! WAKE THESE TWO LOVEBIRDS UP!"

LOVEBIRDS?! I sat up with a start, reluctantly, though. Fang grunted next to me, his large, tan hands reaching out for where I'd been lying a second ago. I wanted so badly to get back down onto his black mattress…

Something freezing was dumped all over Fang's face and my chest. I gasped in rage, wide awake now.

"Gazzy."

"Uh… yeah?" he said nervously, shifting his feet. Fang was rubbing his dark eyes groggily.

"Watch your back," I told him. Maybe I'd put a cockroach or two in his pants tomorrow night…

As Gazzy made a hurried leave, still carrying the bucket, I looked down. You could clearly see my bra from the water. Thank God I hadn't thought to take it off before going to sleep…

There was a thump and an angry grunt. Fang had rolled off the bed.

…

"Hey Nudge?"

"Yeah, Max?"

"Why are you putting a fluffy toothpick on my eye?"

"It's called mascara. Makes your eyelashes look longer and darker."

"That's really stupid. Stop poking me with it."

"I'm not _poking_ you. You're just moving too much."

"Just let me change, please?"

Nudge pouted and left the room before she could inflict any further damage to my face. Quickly, I pulled on an especially comfortable dark green T-shirt and loose jeans. It was too cold to think about wearing shorts on a flight. Nudge was still angry she wasn't allowed to dress me up like her own personal Barbie every day.

As we flew to school, I reviewed what we had to remember.

No one, _no one_ was allowed to know we had wings- so no tank tops.

No inviting people over- how in the world would they get to the house anyways?

No talking about family- family could lead to parents, and since we had none… it raises suspicions.

Our last name was Smith, to keep it simple.

Iggy, Angel, Gazzy and I were all related since we had light skin, and Nudge and Fang were 'adopted'.

Angel wasn't allowed to manipulate any student's mind unless necessary for the safety of the flock.

The place was a public, one-story building made of brick. We landed in the woods a quarter mile away and jogged to the entrance, trying to blend in with the rest of the students. I just hopped onto a wall and examined every acne/makeup-covered face on the campus with a slight scowl on my face. I was here to protect my flock while they had a good time. Not to make friends.

After ten minutes or so of getting odd looks from other high schoolers, I could see that they were all doing, well…

Fine. Extremely fine.

Angel had lined up with the other first graders quietly, a slight smile on her face. She was really supposed to be in sixth grade, according to several online courses. We actually probably could have put her with the second-graders, she was so tall. Already the teacher seemed to have taken a suspicious liking to her…

Gazzy was already in the midst of learning how to play soccer on the grounds with the other elementary schoolers. He lost the ball every three seconds, but his speed made up for his clumsiness with the sport. The boy was laughing like a maniac whenever the ball was shot between two shoes that had been set up as a temporary goal.

Nudge was being… Nudge. She seemed almost born to be a normal girl. Pretty, friendly, fashionable and chatty, she was already surrounded by skinny, smiling sixth grade girls (future cheerleaders, I could feel it), and was getting a lot of stares from some of the boys.

Iggy and Fang… well. I scowled even harder as my eyes made their way past throngs of girls. The girls were all pretty, flirty, and some of them were even pushing their chests out onto the two boys whenever they had a giggle-attack from the _hilarious_ thing one of them had said.

Iggy was having the time of his life, flashing grins and winks- most of them not really directed at any of the girls, but still.

And Fang.

Fang was almost worse.

He didn't attract as much attention as Iggy the Flirt, but there was a stick-thin copper-haired girl chatting with him much closer than a normal person with an idea of _personal space_ would. She was flanked by a blonde girl, and both of them were attempting to get the poor boy to have a conversation with them.

And he _smiled_. Twice!

So _this_ was high-school.

"Um, hello?" I heard a faintly familiar voice call out to someone. I sighed. Why couldn't we have just stayed in seclusion, where there weren't any beautiful girls for Fang to talk to?

Uh, and Iggy. Where there weren't any beautiful girls for Iggy, either.

"Excuse me?"

Was he talking to _me_? I looked down from the brick wall I was sitting on, and gasped from surprise and embarrassment.

It was the guy that had kissed me in December. What was his name? Sam? Yeah, Sam.

"Oh… hi," I muttered. Maybe he didn't recognize me. I hopped off of the high wall, landing on my sneakers with a loud clap on the pavement.

"You're the girl under the mistletoe!" he exclaimed, grinning. His eyes were so… hazel. He had a nice smile.

"Yeah," I said, hehe-ing nervously.

"I didn't know you were going to West High!"

_You don't even know my _name, I thought, slightly annoyed by his enthusiasm.

"Well, it's me and my family's first day," I informed him.

"Cool. Hey, what's your first class?"

"Um…" I frowned. It should be in my backpack where Nudge had packed everything, so I shuffled through everything to find my schedule. "English." Wow. We had to learn our own language even in _high school? _

"Trig's right next to there. I'll walk you."

"Okay, whatever." I shrugged nonchalantly, completely unused to anyone being nice to me. Maybe normal kids weren't as bad as I thought.

Or I could just be too trusting.

…

I sucked at my own language.

At least, spelling-wise. I couldn't even spell 'fence' right. The whole class had gaped at me when my teacher had a mini spelling bee 'just for fun,' after introducing me (I'd just looked at everyone closely, making sure none of them had the features of Erasers, until the teacher, Ms. Ka-something, had asked me to sit), and my face had gone bright red as I spelled out the first word with the letters I proudly learned from StarFall, 'F-E-N-S'.

It had been utterly humiliating. But I'm not here to get good grades, after all. I'm just here to watch my flock.

After English I had Chemistry. Needless to say, I aced it after spending the last fifteen years of my life with nothing better to do than listen to white-coat's conversations. And then math. Iggy was in that class. I now felt disappointed that Fang was only in my lunch and P.E. class.

"Hello, Maxie." The blind kid winked at me when I sat next to him, a spot three other girls had already gotten into a whisper-fight over. They glared at me as I squeaked the metal chair.

"Hey Igs. How's the first day going?"

"Fantastic, except for the learning part. Who knew there were so many girls at schools?"

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot," I muttered. "We have Physical Education next, right?"

"The class where we're allowed to run around and cause havoc? Yup." He sighed, drumming his fingers on the desk.

"Excellent. I'm dying of boredom sitting in one place." I could tell Iggy couldn't agree more.

"I kind of miss the rest of the flock. Haven't seen them all day," Iggy said wistfully. I laughed.

"You doofus. In a couple of hours we'll be going home with them," I said, but I knew what he meant. It was so weird not to know what Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were up to.

The class started, and an ancient lady began furiously writing equations onto the board. I whispered the numbers and letters to Iggy so he could understand what was going on.

"Care to explain what you two are talking about, Mr. and Miss Smith?" Her frail but somehow cold-sounding voice cut into my dialogue to Iggy.

"I'm explaining what you're writing to my brother, Iggy," I said, just as coldly.

"Why? Is Iggy blind?" she asked sarcastically. Jeez, for an old lady she was _mean_.

"Yes, actually," I retorted triumphantly. "He is."

Some of the kids in the class that had been listening gasped rather theatrically. The teacher looked flustered. "Why wasn't I notified?"

"I don't know," I replied innocently. "Could you explain that problem again? I'm not sure I understood the second property you demonstrated."

She looked like she wasn't going to let it go, but reluctantly the tiny lady turned to the board again.

"Wake me when it's over," muttered Iggy.

…

"So you're Nick's sister?" asked a sweet-sounding voice uncertainly.

I turned in my seat, from where I had just sat down. Sam had waved me over to a table filled with two cheerful-looking girls, a boy with dark, curly hair, and a few others.

"_Step_-sister," I pointed out tightly. "Yeah. I'm Max."

"As in, the boy name?" The girl was the red-head from before school with Fang. I exhaled slowly.

"Yes. Short for Maxine," I lied. "What's it to you?"

"Um… I was wondering if you wanted to sit with us, since you're related to Nicky." I raised my eyebrow at the ridiculous nickname. She gestured towards a table with Iggy, a couple of skinny girls, Fang, and a couple of big, muscled guys.

"No, thanks. I'm good here," I said curtly, turning back to my table, ignoring Fang's gaze.

"Okay. Bye, Maxine!"

"Who was that?" I asked Sam curiously.

"Lissa. She's a bit of a… well, she goes through a lot of boys," replied Sam, snorting a bit, though still managing to sound good-natured.

"Oh. Okay. And you guys are?" I said hesitantly.

"Oh, shoot! Sorry, forgot to introduce you guys," Sam said, hitting himself on the forehead. "Max, this is J.J." He pointed to a tall, light-haired girl who grinned blindingly at me.

"Hey, Max! I'm so glad you're here. There haven't been any new kids in _ages_, and you seem really cool. I mean, I'm not saying you have to live up to those standards, but it would be amazing if we could be friends, since-"

"And this is Ella," interrupted Sam, smiling apologetically.

"Hey," the tan girl said shyly, smiling amiably at me. I grinned back at her.

"And this is Total." Sam nodded towards a short, curly-haired boy.

He smiled formally, sizing me up. "Are you into the theater?" he asked curiously. "Because if you are, I'd love to take you in for drama classes. They have props, Broadway musicals, and even some Shakespeare!" He sighed dreamily. I snorted light-heartedly at him.

"I'm good, thanks," I said.

"If you're sure… then at least get some tickets to our next play! It's a Shakespeare, 'Much Ado About Nothing.'"

"Uh… sure," I replied, lying through my teeth.

"I'm playing Claudio. My stature and looks aren't quite up to Benedick, you know?" His dark, puppy-dog eyes examined me, sparkling with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, okay," I said, nodding. Who in the world…?

"But Akila's playing Hero… so I don't mind." Another sigh.

"Sorry about him," said Sam, laughing. I joined in, and soon Ella and J.J. brought me effortlessly into a conversation.

Suddenly, I had friends.

Too bad Fang wasn't with me.

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